Finding Answers
by Hammsters
Summary: Zach, Cammie, Bex, Grant, Macey, Nick, Liz and Jonas are all grown up and married. What happens when their gifted children don't know the truth about who they are? What happens when they want to know the truth? Rated T for Mikkie's potty mouth.
1. Finding Answers

**Hey, this is my first Gallagher Girls fanfic so I hope you like it. This won't be about Zach or Cammie or any of them. This story is starring their children that I have made up. Obviously, I'm not the wonderful author of the Gallagher Girls (but I wish I was) so only the idea for this particular story and the characters Mikkie, Tara, Lexi, Casey, and a certain favorite of mine that will come in later, belong to me. There. Now that that's out of the way, enjoy!**

Ever get the feeling your parents are hiding something from you? The feeling they know something you don't and never will? I do. Everyday. So do my three best friends, Tara Slaine, Lexi Newman, and Casey Anderson. My name is Mikayla Goode, and nothing about my life is normal.

* * *

><p>Here's the story. My name's Mikayla, I go by Mikkie. Call me Mikayla, I kick you where the sun don't shine. Got that? My mom is Cameron Ann Goode, formerly known as Cameron Ann Morgan. Call her anything but Cammie, in my friends' case Aunt Cammie (I'll explain later) or in my case Mom, you might as well be digging your own grave. My dad is Zachary Goode. You seriously don't wanna know what'll happen if you call him Zachary. It's strictly Zach, Uncle Zach, or Dad.<p>

My mom went to the Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women (my dream school, and the dream school of my besties), my dad went to the Blackthorne Institute for Boys. They met their sophomore year when fifteen boys from my dad's school went to my mom's school for a semester. My dad and two of his roommates, Grant Newman and Jonas Anderson, were among those boys. My mom married my dad a few years later. Her roommates married my dad's roommates. Liz Sutton married Jonas, Bex Baxter married Grant, and Macey McHenry (yes from _that_ McHenry family) married Nick Slaine. Each of them is an only child, including my parents, but they're like family to each other, so we pretend to be related. Hence the whole "Aunt Cammie", "Uncle Zach" thing. Their daughters are my best friends. That's everything we know about our parents.

It's weird we didn't ask more before. Probably because we're used to living weird lives. Our parents signed us up for karate and gymnastics as soon as we could walk, taught us six foreign languages as soon as we could talk. So, yea. Weird? Weird and I go _way _back. BUt there are some things that are weird even for us. And it was one such occasion that really made my friends and me question our parents. Last year, over the summer before he started seventh grade, my brother Matt got a letter from The Blackthorne Institute for Boys. They were giving him a scholarship, full ride baby! So naturally, my parents should've been ecstatic. Instead they were furious. My dad made an angry phone call to the headmaster.

"I demand to know the meaning of this!" He shouted. "I thought I made my intentions clear about my son's education and... _career choices" _he whispers the last two words. I could understand the education thing, but _career options? _How could going to Blackthorne influence that? If anyhting, going to Blackthorne would give him better options! From what I've heard it's a very good school.

Since then, my friends and I have been on high alert, dissecting every sentence, deciphering every action our parents have made. I'm ashamed to admit that we even spy on them, quite a bit. Embarressing, yes, but extremely productive. Which is why I'm crouched outside the door to my parents room, eavesdropping on yet another conversation.

"Maybe we should let him go this year. It's not to late for him to catch the other boys. After all, he's only going into eighth grade, and Macey was able to make up for four missed years in two semesters." My mom says.

"Cammie, haven't we talked about this enough?"

"I know, but I've been thinking about it. He really wants to go there. I see so much of us in them. I think Matt would be great at it."

"Gallagher Girl, please," my dad pleads, "After what we went through as students, what we still go through now as professionals, I can't send him off to Blackthorne. I just can't. Same for Mikkie and the Gallagher Academy. It's not the kind of life I want for my kids."

"I don't either," my mom sighs. "I just feel bad hiding so much of our lives from them."

"I do too. But it's for the best." _Holy shit on a stick! _What are my parents hiding from me? I want to know! Now! I tiptoe quickly back to my room and pull out my cell phone.

_Red alert! I repeat, red alert! _I text to Casey, Lexi, and Tara. I immediately get a response from Lexi.

_Where's the fire? _It says.

_Major bean spillage. Theyr keeping sumthing from us. Tht's all I cud find out. _My phone buzzes as I get a text from Tara.

_Code Black! _Ooh, she's got something juicy!

_Wut? Wut!_

_Lisnin 2 da 'rents. They sed sumthin about Gallagher. The line of work bein 2 dangerous 4 us. _Hmm. What kind of dangerous work do the Alumni of the Gallagher go into? I text my question to her. _-shrugs-. _I text back,

_-sighs- We'v got a lot of work 2 do_

**Huh? So how'd I do? Hopefully not terrible. I really want this to be one of my better stories so if you have any comments or suggestions I'd love to hear them. So please review! Peace out!  
>-Hammsters<strong>


	2. Access Denied part 1

**Hey, so this one is a little bit short, but I've already got the third one in progress, so that'll be up soon to make up for it. So, here it is! Enjoy!**

"Oh my god," I say, staring in disbelief at the letter in my hand. "Oh my god. Mom!"

"What is it? What's wrong?"

"I got into the Gallagher Academy! I got a full ride scholarship!" My mom's face hardens.

"You're not going." She says simply. My heart drops into my stomach.

"But mom, it's my _dream school._ I've worked so hard to get in!" I protest.

"You're not going." She repeats, more firmly this time.

"But mom-"

"That's enough Mikkie."

"Mom please-"

"I said that's enough Mikayla. You're not going to the Gallagher Academy and that's final." My eyes begin to brim with tears. I run out of the room to the back porch, crying. A few minutes later, I hear my neighbors' doors slam and three girls sobbing.

"Got the acceptance letter?" Lexi, Tara, and Casey nod. "You can't go either huh?" My friends shake their heads. We're silent. "Clubhouse?" I ask. My friends nod.

"Clubhouse." I leap over the fence into Lexi's yard and Tara does the same on the other side. We wait a few seconds for Casey, who has to hop two fences to get here. Once she catches up, we crawl through a broken plank in the back of the Newman's fence into the forest preserve behind our houses. Deep into the trees, we reach the old abandoned cabin we have claimed as our own. Inside are our observation journals, maps of the area, our "spy" equipment (walkee talkees) and some make-up, wigs, and compact mirrors (Tara's grandma owns a cosmetics company). As you can see, our schemes at spying on our parents have been very elaborate at times. Casey is the first to speak.

"I got full ride. I worked _so hard _to that scholarship, but they still won't let me go."

"Me too," I say.

""I got the full scholarship too" Lexi says.

"I did too." Tara says.

"It's not fair. After all the work we put in hoping maybe we'd be good enough and- and-" Casey whines.

"And they won't even tell us why we can't go." Lexi finishes.

"It's not right." Tara adds.

"We'll just have to fix that then won't we?" I say, grinning mischievously. "We're finding out why we can't go whether they like it or not."

**Aw. Poor girls. What'd you think? Hope to hear from you guys soon! Reviews pleeeeease!**


	3. Access Denied part 2

**Hey. FIrst off, thanks for the reviews! Me is happy! This chapter is closer to the length of the first one so maybe it'll make up for the shortness of the last chapter. I hope so, cuz it bugged me how short that one was. Anyways, I'm (sadly) not the wonderful author of this series, I own nothing! Except the characters I made up. They are mine. Well, without further adieu, here's the chapter! Read, love...**

I've been told on many occasions that it's uncanny how similar I am to my father. Same dark, dark brown hair, same emerald green eyes. My cockiness, my sneakiness, my mischievous nature, my overall demeanor are practically identical to his. Or so I'm told. But my Aunt Bex, Aunt Macey, and Liz (Somehow, calling her and Jonas just plain Jonas and Liz sounds better than Aunt Liz and Uncle Jonas) say that I'm more and more like my mother everyday. My peculiar knack for slinking around unseen when I want, my stubbornness, my smart mouth, my attitude. If any of that's true, it's not showing right now. My dad genes have been kicked into overdrive.

"Okay girls. Why did you want us all here?" Uncle Nick says once everyone's gathered in my family's living room.

"We need to talk." Tara says sternly.

"We understand that you don't want us to go to the Gallagher Academy and we're okay with that I guess," I begin.

"Kinda." Tara adds.

"Sorta." Lexi contributes.

"Not at all really," Casey says sadly. Tara, Lexi, and I shrug and nod.

"As I was saying, we understand that you don't want us to go to school there, but what we want to know is why." I finish. Our parents give each other _the look. _Shit! THat look has been the death of some of my greatest schemes. "And don't say 'because we said so' 'cuz that's not a real answer and you know it." I add.

"Too bad! Because we said so!" Uncle Grant says. I walk up to my dad. Once I'm right in front of him, I kneel down and make the cutest puppy dog face I can muster. My friends follow suit, giving their fathers the same look. I can already see Jonas weakening.

"Daddy?" I say sweetlu=y. "Pwetty pwease tell us Daddy." I plead. I see him glance nervously aT my mom. The puppy dog face is his one and only weakness. HIs defenses are being busted up.

"Stay strong boys!" Liz blurts.

"You can do it! DOn't look them in the face!" Aunt Bex advises. Uncle Grant, Uncle Nick, Jonas, and my dad all squeeze their eyes shut. THey've found the flaw in our otherwise perfect plan.

"Sorry Mik, but I'm with Grant on this one. You don't need to know why." My dad says.

"Damn it!" Tara cries.

"Shit!" Lexi curses.

"Fuck!" I yell in discontent. We look at Caey expectantly. SHe, like her parents, still syas things like 'Oopsie daisy.' It's a habit we're trying to break her of.

"Crap?" She offers. I give her a thumbs up. Our parents raise their eyebrows at us.

"What'd you say girls?" My mom asks accusingly. We do our best to look innocent.

"Oh darn!" Tara exclaims.

"Shoot!" Lexi corrects herself.

"Crud! I said crud!" Casey insists. We giggle a little bit at her.

"And what about you young lady?" My dad asks me pointedly. I bat my big green eyes, hold my hands behing my back, and rock back and forth on my feet.

"I only said fudge Daddy," I reply innocently.

"That's what I thought you said." He says, somewhat doubtfully. My friends and I skip out of the room then sprint upstairs to my bedrrom. We slam the door shut the second we're inside. Casey, Tara and I drop into purple beanbag chairs as old as dirt and Lexi seats herself in an old tan recliner that's old enough to be the beanbag chairs' grandpa.

"We're not giving up are we?" Tara asks worriedly as soon as we're all seated comfortably.

"Hells no!" Lexi answers for me.

"Girls, the Age of Anderson has arrived. "I announce to them. Casey grins excitedly at my comment. "We're going to research like we've never researched before!"

"Cuz we haven't." Tara mutters. I shrug.

"True dat."

"You'd think a bunch of freaky child geniuses like ourselves would've done research by now." Lexi sighs.

"I've done research before!" Casey protests. I pat her on the head.

"She said freaky geniuses. The three of us are freaky geniuses. You're the female reincarnation of Einstein himself." I explain to her. She beams from ear to ear.

"So. What will we be researching?" Tara asks me.

"Blackthorne and Gallagher of course." I say like it should be obvious.

"Why Blackthorne?" Casey asks me curiously.

"Because last year Matt got full ride to Blackthorne and my parents wouldn't let him go, remember? It must be for the same reason. We just have to find out what that reason is, and maybe in researching bothe we'll find out more." I explain. My friends shrug.

"Google should cover it, right girls?" Lexi says confidently.

"Amateurs" Casey sings to herself.

"Hey!" I yell, bashing her over the head with a pillow. She laughs.

"I'm beat!" Tara exclaims randomly.

"Yea, I'm tired too," Lexi agrees.

"Let's get some sleep. Research begins tomorrow!" I say.

"Yay!" Casey cries enthusiastically. We all pull out sleeping bags (we'd already planned on the three of them sleeping over) and fall asleep almost instantly.

**Okay so how was it? the next chapter will have more of an impact on the plot line, I know this one was a little goofy. I really hope you liked it! If you did, or if you didn't, please review and tell me so, cuz I loves to hear from you guys! Peace out!**


	4. Juvie

**Hey everybody! Thanks for the reviews for last chapter! They really encourage me. I hope you like this chapter, a lot happens during it. Enjoy!**

During the night I don't sleep well at all. My mind won't stop thinking about why we can't go. Why would our parents want to hide a miniscule little detail like that from us?

I wake up at 7:30 a.m. It'll be hours before my friends wake up. _Might as well make use of the extra time, _I think. Within seconds, my laptop is out and Google has been opened. My hands fly across the keys as I type 'Blackthorne Institute for Boys' into the search bar. Thousands of hits show up instantly. I click on the site that looks the most promising.

The first thing on the top of the page is a photo of a mountain. _That's pretty. _Right below it is a picture of a barbed wire fence. _Not so pretty. _There's a sign on the fence that reads: Blackthorne Institute for Boys, Private Detention Facility. Danger. No Trespassing Beyond This Point. _Private detention facility? _That's juvie! My dad did NOT go to juvie! And Matt! You don't get a full ride scholarship to _juvie! _This must be a different Blackthorne.

I click on a few other sites, but they all say a lot of the same thing. No! It can't be a private detention center!

"Guys!" I say, shaking my friends' shoulders violently to wake them up.

"Five more minutes" Tara groans.

"Go away!" Casey mutters.

"Fuck off!" Lexi whines. I groan.

"You brought this all upon yourselves." I warn. I open a new tab on my laptop and go to Youtube. A few minutes later, "Friday" by Rebecca Black si blasting full volume. My friends bolt up into a sitting position.

"I'm up!" Tara exclaims. Casey claps her hands over her ears.

"It burns!"

"What the hell is wrong with you? How could you do such a thing?" Lexi cries.

"I warned ya. You should've woken up the first time I tried to wake you." I reply. Casey sighs.

"Why did you want us awake?"

"Check out what I found." I turn my laptop so the screen is facing them. My friends' eyes widen. Well, except for Lexi.

"No." She denies. "No it's not true. You clicked on the wrong website. it must be a different Blackthorne."

""That's what I thought at first. This si what it said on every site I've found." I reply. My friend simply shakes her head.

"Our dads didn't go to juvie!" She insists. "They couldn't have."

"Apparently they did." Tara sighs. Casey pulls out a notebook and jots down some information about Blackthorne.

"I wonder what else they're hiding from us." she says quietly.

Next, we search the Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women. I'm happy to report that it isn't another private detention facility, but a boarding school for the genius daughters of the rich and snobby (with a few scholarship kids tossed in for fun.) Sadly, with each bit of information we find, another of the few things we know about our parents falls out of place.

"Anyone else noticing a pattern here?" Tara asks in frustration.

"Yup. Every fact on these websites unveils another lie our parents told us." Casey sighs.

"Spot on Case." Lexi says.

"Just what I was thinking." Tara agrees. "Why would they lie to us about all this?" My friends shrug.

"None of this makes any sense." I reply in confusion.

"What do you mean?" Lexi asks, looking at me curiously.

"They wouldn't let fifteen juvenile delinquents go to school with a bunch of spoiled little princesses for a day, let alone a semester."

"Yea. They lied." Casey explains.

"But then where did our moms meet our dads? None of them went to college, Blackthorne's in Maine and Gallagher's in Virginia. They didn't grow up in the same state, Bex isn't even from America!" I rant. "And come to think of it, you don't get an acceptance letter to a private detention facility, you get a visit from the police and a warrant for your arrest!" My friends nod.

"Yea, that is weird." Casey agrees.

"And isn't it a little weird that our aunts and uncles and grandparents and our parents and their friends are all sales people?"

"Yea!" Lexi agrees.

"They're definitely hiding something from us." Tara replies.

"And I know how we can find out what it is." I say nervously.

* * *

><p>"Are you out of your freakin' mind?" Lexi exclaims when I tell them my idea. "We're only thirteen years old!"<p>

"Tara and I are still twelve," Casey adds.

"Even worse! How are we supposed to take care of ourselves? We can't run away!" She finishes.

"Think about all the time the four of us have spent babysitting, and walking dogs, and mowing lawns, and watering people's plants when they're out of town. All those years of chores, and craft sales, and bake sales, and lemonade stands. Almost everything we own is a gift or something we got with a gift card. We're loaded! I don't know about you guys, but I've accumulated over $7,000 since I opened my bank account when I was five. We could take most of the money in our accounts out of the bank and we'd have enough to take care of ourselves." I protest.

"Okay, say we did run away. When would we leave? Where would we go?" Lexi asks.

"All of our parents are going on a 'business trip' in two days and we're going to stay with my great-Aunt Abby. We could take a train to Maine instead of Colorado when they drop us off at the station. We could stay in cheap motels and places like our clubhouse." I explain.

"Works for me." Casey replies.

"I'm in." Tara agrees. Lexi doesn't look convinced.

"Come on Lex! It's an adventure!" I plead.

"Mik, you're asking me to go on the run. You're asking me to break into a private detention facility and a boarding school my parents won't let me go to." I smile weakly.

"Guilty as charged."

"And I couldn't be more proud!" She exclaims, smiling excitedly. We squeal and group hug, but then get down to work. We have a deadline to make.

**Gasp! The girls are running away! Huh. You know what they say, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. Looks like Mikkie's following in Cammie's footsteps. So what'd you think? Any ideas of what'll happen next time? Will the girls get caught, or will they be smart enough to get away? Please review and tell me what you thought! I love to hear from you guys! Peace out!**


	5. Ready to Go

**Hey guys, thanks for the reviews! This is the chapter where the story _really _begins, so I really hope you like it! I starts to pick up a bit more in the next chapter too. So let's get to the story!  
>Mikkie: I think you're forgetting something.<br>Hammsters: I think not.  
>Lexi: Yea, I'm pretty sure you are.<br>Hammsters: Ooooooh, that. I got someone else to do that for me. Take it away!  
>Mysterious Character From a Later Chapter: Hammsters owns nothing. Well, except for Mikkie, Lexi, Tara, and Casey.<br>Hammsters: Forgetting someone are we?  
>Mysterious Character: Nope.<br>Zach: Yes. I think you are.  
>Mysterious Character: Fine. She owns me too.<br>Hammsters: Gracias. Now let's get this show on the road!**

"Mikkie! Are you ready to go yet?" My dad yells impatiently.

"Coming Dad!" I call. I shove a pile of photos I had in my hand into my backpack and sling it over my shoulder. I grab my duffel bag and sprint down the stairs.

"There she is. Look who's decided to grace us with her presence," My dad remarks sarcastically upon my arrival.

"Shut up!" We run out the door and pile into my dad's old Toyota with Casey, Lexi, and Tara, whose parents have already said goodbye and left for the airport. We pull out of the driveway and head to the train station. After about five minutes, we're there. Time for the mandatory backpack check.

"Do you girls have your cell phones?" My mom asks. We wave our phones in the air. "Your laptops?" We nod. "Tickets?" We show her our train tickets. "Emergency credit cards?" We flip open our wallets to show her the credit cards. "I think they're good. Zach, anything to add?"

"Girls, you know the drill. Pepper spray?" We pull out our pepper spray. "Pocket knives, back up pocket knives?" My friends and I show him both of our pocket knives. "What are you girls wearing under your jackets?" Shit. We were hoping he'd forget. OUr parents are pretty strict about what we can and can't wear: two sleeves, no spaghetti straps, no stomach visible, no low necked shirts, no tight shirts. Reluctantly, we unzip our Abercrombie jackets. Tara's wearing a blue sleeveless top, Lexi's got a one-sleeve ruffled purple shirt, and Casey has on an off the shoulder white and green shirt with a low-ish neck. Pretty bad, all things considered, but my outfit pretty much breaks every rule. I'm wearing a tight black, spaghetti strapped camisole that ends just below my belly button. 'Nuff said. My dad glares disapprovingly. "Sweatshirts. Now." We sigh and pull on our baggy Marquette sweatshirts. He gives us a thumbs up. My mom points at her watch to signal that they're gonna be late if they don't get a move on. "Right, right" My dad gives each of us a hug and slips us an extra twenty dollars "Just in case."

"Your train will be here in twenty minutes. Abby'll be waiting for you guys at the station. Stay together, don't get lost. Bex, Grant, Liz, Jonas, Macey, Nick, Zach and I will call you when our flight lands okay?" We nod. "Bye girls! Have a nice trip!"

"You too Mom." I say. "I'll miss you."

"I'll miss you too sweety." She gives us all a hug, and then my parents are gone. We wait a few seconds, then shed our over-sized sweatshirts.

"Okay girls. Got your cash?" They nod. "Walkee talkees?" Another nod. "Disguises?"

"Got 'em" Tara says.

"Good. Then you know what's next." A mournful look crosses our faces. We all pull out our cell phones and turn them on. Then we chuck them into a train heading to Colorado. All of us except Tara.

"Do we have too?" She pleads sadly.

"Yes! They can track us through our phones! No rookie mistakes, not for us." I say. She sighs and kisses her phone.

"Goodbye. You shall be dearly missed." She sets her phone down gently on the floor of the train just before the doors close.

" 'Kay. Disguise time." We go into the bathroom. We all put on wigs, make-up, heels, and switch into different camisoles. We look like different people walking back into the station. Perfect. The four of us board a train going to Maine and soon, we're on our way to who-knows-what.

* * *

><p>We get to Bangor, Maine after an hour or two on the train. We find a forest preserve on the outskirts of town and start our search for a place like our clubhouse back home. We've decided to try to save our money, seeing as we don't know how long this little expedition is going to last. After a really long time we find a little, run-down shack in the middle of the woods. It's old, and splinter-y, and it smells really weird, but it'll do.<p>

We sit silently in our shack for a few minutes. It's cold, so we've pulled our sweatshirts back on. Suddenly, Casey begins to cry. We all rush to her side.

"What's wrong Case?" I ask worriedly.

"I miss my parents." She whimpers.

"It'll be okay. We'll be back home before you know it." Lexi reassures her. "Right Mikkie?"

"Of course. It's just like all our other schemes. Think of it like that camping trip we went on last year.

"The one where we broke into the counselors' building because Tara refused to use the port-a-potties?" She giggles. Lexi and I laugh.

"Yes exactly!" Lexi says. Tara humphs.

"Public bathrooms with toilets that don't flush? I don't think so." We laugh.

"You're such a princess!" Lexi teases. Tara grins.

"And proud of it!" We laugh again.

"See? It's all gonna be all right. We'll eb home before our parents I bet. Casey smiles at me.

"Thanks." I try and fail to suppress a yawn. It never occurred to me how late it is.

"I don't know about you guys, but I'm beat. G'night my peeps!" I say.

"I'm tired too." Lexi says.

"Me too." Casey agrees. Tara nods.

"Good night guys!' My friends mutter good night and soon we're drifting off to a peaceful sleep.

**So... what'd you think?  
>Mysterious Character: I thought it sucked.<br>Hammsters: Shut up! I wasn't talking to you!  
>Mysterious Character: Suck it up.<br>Hammsters: Go away or I'm taking you out of the story!  
>Mysterious Character: You wouldn't do that. Not when you need me to-(cut off by Hammsters)<br>Hammsters: NO SPOILERS!  
>Lexi: What? What do you need him to do?<br>Hammsters: (whispers something in Lexi's ear)  
>Lexi: Oooooooooooh, dramatic. And adorkable.<br>Mysterious Character: Aw, you told her THAT part?  
>Hammsters: Si. Now peace out peoples! Oh. and review please :-) Btw, I got an idea from some other stories.<strong>

**1 review: I'll update in 4-5 days.  
><strong>**5 reviews: I'll update one chapter in 1-3 days.  
>10+ reviews: I'll update two chapters tomorrow.<br>Make me happy peoples! I really want to add chapters 6 and 7 tomorrow! (If you want to know who Mr. Mysterioso over there is, you'll review!)**


	6. Author's Note

Hey everyone! I know everyone in the whole wide world hates author's notes so I'll try to keep this short. I just need one more review! That's all it takes. Anyone who reviews will make me the happiest person in the whole world! If you've already reviewed, please review again. Hell, review twice! The more the merrier! Please, I really want to add those new chapters! Plus I also have chapter 8 ready now and chapter 9's in progress! Don't you wanna know what happens? Don't you wanna know who the mysterious character is!

**Mysterious Character: Heeeeeeeeeelp! I'm dying over here! She's making me more and more "adorkable" by the second! I don't know how much more of this junk I can take! Find your humanity!  
>Hammsters: Yes people, find your humanity! The mysterious person is becoming epically changed as I write! If you don't review soon, my mind will wander into the <em>Twilight <em>zone and he/she will be ruined completely! Help him/her out over here!  
>Mysterious Character: Would you stop callling me a himher? I think everyone knows, you might as well just write plain old h- (cut off by Hammsters)  
>Hammsters: You lie! THey don't know if you're a boy or a girl yet so don't ruin it! It's important! Now go away! I never invite you to take over and start talking to people here anyway! YOU. ARE. NOT WANTED.<br>Mysterious Character: I'm telling Mikkie!  
>Hammsters: She doesn't scare me. I'm her owner and creator!<br>Mysterious Character: Fine. Then I'll sic Zach on you.  
>Hammsters: He doesn't like your character. And F.Y.I., neither does Cammie, Bex, Macey, Liz, Mrs. Morgan, Aunt Abby, Grant, Jonas, Nick, or Mr. Solomon. You're apparently not a very likable guygirl.  
>Mysterious Character: Fine. Then I'll sic Mrs. Goode (Zach's mom, not Cammie) and Agent Townsend on you!<br>Hammsters: Yea, that's great. Now -poof- You are gone. Hahahahahaha! Okay, well, anyway people, reviews !**

~Hammsters out!


	7. Rise and Shine

**Hey everybody! Thank you so much for the reviews. They made me happy.  
>Mysterious Character: Me too!<br>Hammsters: Fuck off MM! Anyways, thanks especially to everyone who reviewed my last chapter, bookbabe68, angel4eva-15, GallagherGirl459, Jelywi (who was actually Jelywi's older sister using Jelywi's account name. Thanks Fiona!) and GallagherGirl16. I was very happy to get your reviews. You're all one step closer to knowing who the Mysterious Character is. Bravo! I'm still to lazy to do the disclaimer thingy so I have a special guest here to do it for me. (But don't worry, he won't be making another appearance after this). Take it away Townsend!  
>Townsend: Yea, yea, yea, Hammsters doesn't own anything except my stupid student's children. (begins grumbling) Can't believe I went from being a top agent at MI6 to reading disclaimers for a little girl.<br>Hammsters: Yea, that's great Townsend. Now, live, love, enjoy!**

"Rise and shine!" Lexi yells full volume in my ear. I groan and give her the finger.

"Nice. Really classy Miss Mkayla." Tara teases. She did _not _just call me Mikayla. I raise my fist to hit her in the stomach.

"_Watch it_ with the Mikayla." I warn. My friends laugh.

"Well ain't you a little ray of sunshine today?" Lexi jokes.

"Someone's not a morning person." Casey sings.

"Is it that time of the month again?" Lexi teases.

"Haha. You're a couple of real comedians," I reply sarcastically.

"So what's our plan for today chief?" Tara asks.

"Easy. We figure out where Blackthorne is and break in," I reply.

"Excellent. Let's get this show on the road!" She exclaims. We put on make-up, wigs (in case we get caught on a surveillence camera or something) and change into dark short shorts and black camis. After slipping on black Converse, we head towards town.

After a little investigating, we discover that Blackthorne is in the mountains in another part of the forest preserve. We hike off in the direction of the institute without hesitation. We get there after about half an hour.

"This way guys," I direct, pointing east of the school.

"Can't we just go through the entrance?" Casey asks. I raise my eyebrows at her in disbelief.

"Yea. Like they're going to let a couple of teenage girls into a boys' private detention facility without an adult" I answer sarcastically. She blushes and smiles weakly.

"Right. I knew that." I smile at her and we hike higher into the mountains. Soon we here to sound of crashing water. "Is that what I think it is?" Sure enough, we soon come to a raging river. There's a log on the banks half-submerged in the waters. I sit down on it like I'd sit on a horse.

"Come on guys! Get on!" I call, probably looking a little crazy. My friends hesitantly follow my lead. "Help me push off. " We push the log into the water and begin drifting along the river.

"What's the point of this Mik?" Lexi asks.

"THe current will carry us to Blackthorne. I bet you there will be less cameras too," I explain. The water starts moving faster and the roar of crashing waves grows louder.

"Mikkie?" Casey says nervously.

"Whatever you do, stay. On. The log." I warn.

"Are you fucking insane?" Tara screams. I shrug.

"That's a strong possibility." I reply.

"Mikkie!" Casey yells.

"I swear to god Mikkie, if we survive this, I'm gonna fucking kill you!" Lexi threatens. I shrug again. The river drops from beneath us and we plunge over the edge of the waterfall. We scream our lungs out until the fall ends and we find ourselves deep underwater. My friends and I paddle our way towards the surface, gasping for breath once we reach it.

"Air! Sweet, sweet air!" Casey cries.

"Mikkie, if a little voice in your head tells you to ride along a river in the mountains on a log, do us all a favor, and DON'T LISTEN!" Tara shrieks.

"Hey, we made it didn't we?" I reply indignantly. "Come on!" I sprint in the direction of Blackthorne, with Tara, Lexi, and Casey following close behind.

We soon come to a small brick building. I go inside and see dozens of computer screens on the walls showing different places in Blackthorne. We've hit the jackpot: the security building.

"Hey! You're not supposed to be here!" A short, pudgy man wearing glasses yells from behind me.

"Shit!" I smack my head against his as hard as I can. He stumbles back and I punch him in the gut. THe man groans. I hear a loud _whack! _as a large branch makes contact with the side of his skull. The man crumples to the ground.

"That oughta get er done." Lexi says, rubbing her hands together vigorously.

"Nice one Lex" I reply.

"Thanks." Tara runs over to the computer in the center of all the screens.

"Case, you're good with computers. Think you can hack this?" she asks.

"Of course. Watch me work my magic," Her fingers fly across the keyboard and within seconds, she's in.

"Nice job" I say. SHe smiles. Suddenly, a lightbulb goes off in my brain. "Guys, I have an idea!"

"NO!" They shout in unison. I pout.

"But this is a good one." I whine. My friends sigh.

"Fine. Let's hear it." Lexi says.

"Casey can stay here and work the computers and watch the cameras. We'll go break into Blackthorne. We'll each have a walkee talkee and we'll leave one with her so she can warn us if there are any teachers or guards near us." I explain.

"Good thinking," Tara says.

"Yea. There's a chance we won't die. I'm very proud of you." Lexi adds. I stick my tongue out at her.

"Come on let's go!" I say. We take off towards Blackthorne, occasionally changing directions to dodge cameras and guards. Soon, the scenery begins to change. The trees thin out and the few that remain have ropes hanging out of the branches. We crawl in and out of muddy trenches and long distance rifle ranges begin to appear. _What kind of juvie school is this? _This place is really starting to look more like a military academy.

We finally reach the Blackthorne Institute. It looks a little like a military academy would, but mostly it looks like a prison minus the barred windows. Our walkee talkees spark to life.

"Guys, if you go to the left about twenty feet, there'll be a vent behind the bushes." Caey tells us. We follow her instructions and there it is.

"Thanks Casey." Tara whispers into her walkee talkee. She kneels on the ground in front of the vent and pulls a crowbar out of her backpack. Lexi and I give her a questioning look. "Don't ask" she mouths. We crawl into the vent, smallest (that would be me) in the front and tallest (that would be Tara) in the back. Casey gives us directions the whole way.

"Okay. Turn right and you'll be right above one of the seventh grade dorm rooms." We turn right like she said and see the slits of light signalling the end of the tunnel. "Seventh graders have class in about five minutes, so it should be empty."

"WHose going in?" I ask.

"You should." Lexi says. "You're the smallest and, when you want to be, the quitest." I nod. Tara hands me her crowbar and I use it to pry the vent open. I slide out silently and land evenly on my toes with the grace of a cat. I walk with soundless steps to onte of the closets and open it. Inside, behind all the crisp, clean uniforms, are a rifle, a machete, and a very impressive knife collection. _What the hell kind of security does this place have?_

"I wouldn't steal that if I were you," a deep voice says from behind me.

**Mysterious Character: That's me! That's ME! I'm gonna have a name soon!  
>Hammsters: Yea, that's great. You're a Blackthorne Boy. Happy now?<br>Mysterious Character: Extremely. So what're you gonna name me?  
>Hammsters: I'm not gonna tell YOU! You've been annoying me! Soon, you shall be annoying somebody else.<br>Mikkie: Who?  
>Hammsters: You.<br>Mikkie: Me? Aw man. Can I at least know his name then?  
>Hammsters: sure. Lexi, Casey, Tara, get over here! I'll tell you too!<br>Mysterious Character: Hey! That's not fair!  
>Hammsters: Too bad! (whispers name to girls)<br>Mikkie: I love that name!  
>Tara: Me too!<br>Lexi: It's okay I guess.  
>Casey: I don't really like it. Reminds me too much of my evil little cousin.<br>Hammsters: Whatever. That's his name, so suck it up. Now review people, I beg you, review!**


	8. Caught By a Blackthorne Boy

**Thanks so much for the reviews everybody! They made me happy! Since you guys were so nice with said reviews, I bring you... Chapter 7! You will meet the mysterious character! I must tell you now though, I made him up. It's not Mr. Solomon (but he's on his way!) and it's not Townsend or Dr. Steve, so I'm sorry to anyone who hoped it would be.  
>Mysterious Character: Yea, yea, yea, poor pathetic little them, let's get to me now! I want a name! Ooh, and can I have a girlfriend? That Tara chick sounds hot. After all, she <em>is <em>Macey's daughter.  
>Hammsters: No, you cannot date Tara. As far as I know, no one in this story is a big fan of yours (yet) so you will never date any of these girls. Or will you. Nah, you probably won't. But you're still a major character if that helps.<br>Mysterious Character: Whatever, just get to the story already. I want to know who I am!  
>Hammsters: Okay, okay, chill dude. I own nothing except the idea for this particular story and the characters (but you already knew that) so, yea, here is!<strong>

"_I wouldn't steal that if I were you," A deep voice says from behind me…_

Shit. Shit shit shit shit shit. This isn't how it goes. I never get caught. _Ever. _It's a fact of life! Someone really oughta explain the rules to this dud.

The voice isn't deep enough to be a teacher or a guard, so it's obviously one of the seventh graders that lives in this room. And that just might be worse. The worst a teacher or guard could do is find out who I am and call my parents. But this boy's here because he's a _criminal. _That? Yea, that makes me nervous.

"Who are you?" The boy asks. I spin around to face him. A little too quickly. My wig flies off and my long curly locks tumble out. Shit. "You're one of those Gallagher girls aren't you?" He says, eyeing the short black wig on the ground. I look up at him and my jaw almost drops. He's a seventh grader, but he could easily pass for eighth, maybe even a freshman. He's got messy black hair and electrifying sky blue eyes. The boy is about 5'9" or 5'10" (pretty tall for a kid the same age as me) and is wearing long black pants, a white short-sleeved uniform shirt, and a black tie hangs loosely at his neck. His arms look pretty muscular for a kid age. He's definitely the thirteen year old equivalent to a male Abercrombie & Fitch model, probably the most amazing looking boy _I've _ever seen. I'm suddenly very aware of the fact that I'm on the verge of drooling. I snap myself out of it and nod. "Should've known. I heard you girls are always breaking in here," He says. "What's your name?"

"Mikayla Morgan," I lie, using my mom's maiden name. "Mikkie for short."

"I'm Michael Roberts." He says. He notices that I'm pressed up against the cold stone wall, trying to put as much distance between us as possible. "You don't have to do that you know. I don't bite." I blush and step away from the wall.

"So what got me caught?" I ask. Michael smirks.

"Let's see. First off, you forgot to check for a laser grid. You used walkee talkees. Rookie mistake. They're loud and sound carries, especially when you're crawling around in vents. And your friends in the vent are a bit too loud. I didn't hear you, but I heard them no problem. And when you get caught, it helps to keep the wig on," he replies. I glare and pick up my wig. He smirks again. "If I didn't know any better, I'd think you'd never been trained in your life."

"I'm only in seventh grade! And school doesn't start in July for us unlike this place!"

"So? Your parents must've trained you. They are in the business right?"

"Yea, but the only training I have is karate and gymnastics," I say. Based on the crazy he's been spewing, it's a pretty reasonable response. I hope. "And my friends are scholarship kids." I add.

"Really? What the hell kind of school did your parents go to? Only an idiot wouldn't train his kids!" He says in shock. _Idiot? _My parents are no idiots.

"My dad went here. He graduated first in his class." I say through gritted teeth. Michael looks mildly impressed.

"Oh. Well where did your mom go?"

"The Gallagher Academy." I answer.

"Huh." He looks stumped. "Why did you want to break in here by the way?"

"My friend bet me twenty bucks I couldn't sneak in here and bring something back." I lie.

"Your friend in the vent?" He guesses. I nod. " Next time, try to remember that yelling into walkee talkees and clunking around in vents makes noise. Don't act like such an ameteur next mission you go on, 'kay?" _Me? An ameteur? _I officially wanna tear this guy apart. "Hope that twenty dollars doesn't break you" He steps back toward the door. "See 'ya around!" He turns and leaves, closing the heavy oak door behind him.

"Let's hope not." I mumble to myself. Lexi pops her head out of the vent.

"He was cute!" She proclaims excitedly.

"He was a dick!" I correct, a little louder than necessary.

"Heard that!" Michael calls from behind the door.

"You were meant to!" I yell back. "Come on. Let's go." I say to my friends. Lexi grabs my hands and hoists me back up into the vent. We crawl out and make our way out of Blackthorne. All in all, it's been a _very _productive day.

**Michael: Yay! I got a name!  
>Mikkie: Don't let it go to your head.<br>Michael: Fine. But I know something that will. (singing) you think I'm ho-ot, you think I'm ho-ot!  
>Mkkie: (looking around nervously (and guiltily)) What? Me? No.<br>Michael: Yes you do. You think I'm godly!  
>Hammsters: Actually, I think it was an Abercrombie &amp; Fitch model, not quite godly, but close enough.<br>Mikkie: Hey your supposed to back me up on this!  
>Lexi: Yea!<br>Michael: You're one to talk Lexi. You think I'm hot too.  
>Lexi: Tis a lie!<br>Hammsters: Break it up guys, fight on your own time (group grumbles) Okay, so what'd you think everyone? What do you think of Michael? SHOULD I give him a girlfriend (I already know if I'm going to or not, but I'd love to hear your take)? Should I keep him all stuck up, or maybe give him a nicer side? Anyway, whatever you thought, I'd love to hear it! Review review review!**


	9. Burger King!

**Hey party peoples! Thanky thanky thanky for all the reviews, as always, they make me happy. This chapter doesn't add a whole lot to the plot, it's just supposed to tell you a little bit about the characters. I hope it does it's job, but just in case I'll try to sum it up at the end. Anywho, H=hope you like it. Read on!**

"So what do we know about Blackthorne now?" Casey asks when we get back to the shack.

"That it is most definitely _not _a juvie," I answer. Casey looks at me curiously.

"How do we know that?" She asks.

"How many private detention centers do you know of that let their residents keep rifles, knives, and machetes in their closets?" I reply.

"He had that stuff in there?" Tara asks in surprise. I nod.

"Of course it's not a juvie. Guys like him don't go to juvie." Lexi says.

"Jest because Michael was cute doesn't mean he's not capable of committing a crime," I protest."Oooh, Michael is it?" Tara teases.

"It's not about his cuteness," Lexi explains, "it's the way he was talking to you. His attitude, the stuff he was saying. He was cocky and arrogant, but at the same time he was pretty polite and respectful to you. He was pretty smart too it seemed. I'd say he's a rich kid, not a juvenile delinquent. He reminded me of Matt and his friends, pretty normal." I shrug.

"I guess it's possible."

"Whatever. We're not any closer now than we were before!" Tara whines.

"We know that it's not a juvie," Casey offers. Tara gives her an annoyed look.

"Yea, but what good will that do?" We all shrug. She's got a point. We all sit quietly, trying to think. Suddenly it hits me.

"We could visit my Grandpa Joe (A.N.: In this story, Mr. Solomon is married to Ms. Morgan)," I suggest. "He went to Blackthorne and he never approved of my parents decision not to let Matt go there. He might tell us something."

"Where does he live?" Casey asks.

"Just on the border of New York." I tell them.

"I don't know. Isn't that kind of far?" Lexi asks.

"Not that far. We could take the train again. It wouldn't cost much and we've got at least $10,000 saved up combined."

"I guess, but on one exception. We _have _to stop in New York City to go shopping." Tara says. I roll my eyes and Lexi and Casey laugh.

"Deal," I agree.

"So that's it then. Girls, we're hittin' the road!" Lexi exclaims excitedly. She and I start singing "On The Road Again," at the top of our lungs. Tara rolls her eyes.

"My god, you two are so immature!" We grin.

"How kind of you to notice!" I cry, absolutely flattered that she would pay us such a wonderful compliment. She glares for a moment, then smiles in spite of herself.

"Whatever. I'm famished! Would it be too much to ask for a little Burger King?" She whines in exasperation. I smirk.

"We passed one on the way back." Suddenly she jumps on my back.

"Ride like the wind Bullseye!" She shouts. Yea. And _we're _the immature ones.

"No way. You're walking." I say.

"I don't know if I can make it. So… so… _weak" _she sobs through short breaths. Drama queen.

"What am I, your horse?"

"Si" she replies. I shrug.

"Okay then."

"Onward my noble steed!" I take off into the woods as fast as I can with her on my back.

"Cometh my loyal subjects!" Tara calls to Casey and Lexi. They chuckle and sprint to catch up with us.

**Okay, so like I said, it might not be completely clear from the story so far what the characters are supposed to be like, so heregoes:**

**Mikkie: loud, cocky, slightly impatient smart ass who can spy like nobody's business. She's a pavement artist (like her parents Zach and Cammie) but she can do her job twice as well as her parents could even in high school.  
>Lexi: tough, self-confident, and just as vioent as her mother. She's a good spy, but not quite at the level of natural ability that Mikkie is.<br>Tara: loud confident, pretty (like her mom), a teensy bit spoiled and a bit of a princess. Good with disguises and fashion and all that jazz. Also not as good as Mikkie (yet)  
>Casey: inherited the genius gene from her parents, but a little tougher and slightly less clumsy (but not a ton). While she can't sneak around as well as Mikkie, disguise as well as Tara, or beat people up as joyfully and well as Lexi, her super genius powers top them all and make her probably one of the most dangerous thirteen year olds in the world.<br>Michael (even though he's not in this chapter): a hot thirteen year old smart ass, a bad ass, and a kick ass spy. He knows more about the world of spying and that stuff than the girls do and his training is more advanced, so he's a better spy, (for now). His persistence, special skills, and a special interest he will take in one of the girls makes him an important character to the story, and a useful "weapon" to the girls.**

**Well, that's about it. Tell me what you think everybody! I gots lots in store for the next chapter!**


	10. New York City: The Big Apple Baby!

**Hey peeps! What's do you think so far? Am I doing good? This chapter's important, so make sure to pay close attention. Important things will be unveiled to you if you look closely enough. You just gotta know what you're looking for. But I ain't gonna tell you, so good luck! We're one step closer to the entrance of Mr. Solomon! Yay! SO read on and review if you wanna get to him! I KNOW you all love that dude. Okay, as you know, I own NOTHING! Well, except Mikkie, Tara, Lexi, Casey, the marriage between Mr. Solomon and Mrs. Morgan I guess possibly since it isn't in the books and a Mister Michael Roberts. SO here we goes! Read, love, review...**

We take a train to New York City the next day. It doesn't take long to get there, probably a half hour, hour tops.

"Come on let's go!" Tara hurries us.

"Think they have an Abercrombie here?" Lexi asks. Casey shrugs.

"I hope so,:

"I don't really care," I reply. "I just needs me a Delia's." We look around the mall for about an hour and find a Forever 21, an American Eagle, an Abercrombie and Fitch, and an Aeropostale. No Delia's.

""I think I'm gonna go take a look around the city," I tell my friends.

"I don't know about that Mikkie. What if you get hurt?" Casey asks.

"Yea. You shouldn't go around the city alone," Lexi agrees. I pout.

"Guys it's 11:30 a.m. and I'm a black belt in karate. Also, we live in the drunkest city in America! What could go wrong that couldn't there?" I protest.

"Fine. But bring a walkee talkie." Tara sighs.

"'Kay. See 'ya in a bit guys!" I shove the walkee talkie into the pocket of my tan half-trench coat (you know, like a trench coat, but only a little past my waist, not to my ankles. I don't know what they're actually called) and claw my way through the crowd to the exit of the mall.

I leave the mall and take a look around at my surroundings. After all, it's not everyday a gal gets to visit the Big Apple with zippo parental supervision. I stumble around, tripping over my own feet like the mini klutzilla I currently am and like no champion gymnast ever should. Suddenly, I trip over somebody's wiener dog (wiener dog? Really Mikkie?) and find myself falling face first toward the cement. Damn it. Hate when that happens. Just as I'm about to hit the sidewalk, someone thinks fast and catches me. Somehow, I've managed to keep my long blonde wig on this whole time.

"Are you all right?" My rescuer asks after helping me to my feet. Hey, I know that voice! Shit, shit, shit-fuck!

"Yea, I'm fine. Thanks." I say, avoiding eye contact the entire time. I hurry in the opposite direction. His hand grabs my shoulder.

"Hang on a second. Mikkie?" Oh no. What do I do, what do I do!

"I'm sorry, you must have me confused with somebody else. My name's Theresa. It's been nice meeting you!" I deny. He smirks.

"I know that voice. It is you. Way to keep your wig on this time," Grrrr.

"Damn it Michael! Couldn't you just play along with it? It's not like we actually know each other. For all you know, my name could be Theresa!"

"Is it?" He asks doubtfully.

"Well, no. But you still don't know me," I huff, crossing my arms across my chest.

"Well then why don't we fix that."

* * *

><p>Michael and I walk through a quiter, less crowded part of the city.<p>

"Sp what brings you here? Planning on breaking into some fancy schmancy 'performing arts' school for theatrical dorks next?" I laugh.

"No. One of my 'friends from the vent' wanted to go shopping." I explain.

"You live around here?" he asks. I shake my head.

"Nope. I'm a Milwaukee girl, born and bred." I proclaim.

"So why aren't you shopping with your vent buddy?" Michael asks.

"Not my kind of stores." I reply. He nods understandingly. "So what are you doing here?"

"School thing." he replies.

"And what kind of 'school thing' does a school for thugs go on?" I ask. He chuckles.

"Same kind your fancy rich chick school goes on Princess," he answers.

"Princess?" I ask pointedly. He smirks.

"Eh, why not?" he says shrugging. "'Gallagher Girl' just doesn't seem fitting for you." I laugh.

"That's what my dad calls my mom, 'Gallagher Girl'"

"Do you look like your mom?" he asks.

"Hell no! I take after my dad!" It's true. My mom is beautiful, with light brown hair and hazel eyes and overall facial structure I would kill for. I don't look like my Grandma or my Great-Aunt Abby either. They were both twice as beautiful as my mom when they were younger. Of course, I don't look like my handsome Grandpa Joe. He's not my biological grandfather. He's my grandfather's best friend, Joseph Solomon, who married my widowed grandma when my mom was in her twenties. And while I look the most like my dad, all I inherited was his eyes and his dark hair. Not his good looks. I'm 100% average. Based on descriptions and my own assumptions, I get that from my Grandma and Grandpa Goode, whom I've never met.

"THen yea, that name's not fitting for you at all." He comments. I laugh again. Although I'm the last to admit it, I'm actually having fun talking to him. Much to my surprise, Michael's being pretty nice. So, of course, my sudden case of klutziness had to ruin it. I trip over my own feet and I'm falling once again. Lucky for me, Michael's reflexes are pretty kick ass. He catches me once again.

"You okay?" he asks.

"Yea, I'm fine. THanks. Again." He smirks.

"No problem" I suddenly realize that I'm still in his arms, halfway to the ground, his face inches from mine. I blush and turn my face away. He moves closer. His breath is hot on the side of my face. "Do I make you nervous Mikkie?" he whispers in my ear softly, somewhat cockily, like he already knows my answer. I blush again. "Good. Means my school's doing it's job." I stand up again.

"And that job would be...?"

"Nothing you need to know." He throws his arm around my shoulders. We start walking again, when someone taps Michael on the shoulder. It's a kind looking old man, with the wrinkles on his face placed so perfectly that it seems his very soul is smiling, laughing, joyous at life itself.

"You should give that back to your girlfriend sonny," he says.

"I don't know what you're talking about sir," Michael replies politely.

"Oh, I think you do young man," The old man insists. Michael sighs and tugs something out of his pocket. My walkee talkie. He must have taken it out of my jacket pocket when he caught me. He hands it back to me, smiling guiltily. "That's a fine young lady you got there lad," the old man says. I blush, "you better treat her right." The man turns and begins to walk away. He seemed so familiar. Not the hair, or the unusually thick eyebrows, but the eyes. Where have I seen him before? Suddenly it hits me.

"Grandpa Joe?" He turns back to me, smiling proudly.

"Good eye Mikkie,"

**Okay, I'm gonna start by clearing away the question that's probably on a lot of people's mind: MIKKIE DOES NOT LIKE LIKE MICHAEL. You got that? (Or does she? Mwahahahahaha!) But probably not. After all, do you see romance under 'genre'? No. I think not.  
>Lexi: But you never DID put a second genre.<br>Hammsters: Yes, cuz dat one's a secret. It'll give away the whole story if I tell what it is! You don't want that! It's no fun reading a story where you already know what happens! SO it shall remain secret until it is given away in a certain chapter at a certain time by a certain action done by a certain character. Now, anyways, I needs me some opinions, questions, really any response, so, REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!**


	11. Grandpa Joe's Warnings

**Hey everybody! Thanks so much for all the reviews, they made my day! I already had this one written, and the next chapter's almost done too, so the next few chapters should go by pretty quick! Yay! Oh, and to the anonymous reviewer KittyKat, Maybe, just maybe, your wish shall be granted. I can't tell you if it will, because it'll give the story away, but there is a chance. If so, it will be gradual. After all, they're seventh graders, and all seventh graders (such as me) are kinda shy about that stuff. If it happens it's going to be written like it would happen to kids I know, so not as quick as it would in high school stories. THat is, if I decide to make that happen. YOu never know. Anyway, on with the story!**

Grandpa Joe walks us to his car. Much to my displeasure, Michael's arm is still around me,

"You know this guy Mikkie?" He asks me.

"Yup. This is my Grandpa Joe,"

"And if you know what's good for you, you'll take your thieving hands off my granddaughter." Grandpa Joe warns.

"Oh yea? What're you going to do about it?" Oh. My. God. Michael _did not _just say that. My grandfather's face darkens.

"I've been teaching at the Gallagher Academy for almost twenty years." Michael looks unmoved. "I went to Blackthorne too. Don't challenge me boy," Grandpa Joe whispers threateningly. Michael jumps away from me. "That's what I thought."

"Chicken," I mutter. We drive to the mall and pick up my friends. They look surprised and a teensy bit smug when they see Michael sitting next to me.

"I take it _these _are your friends from the vent," he says.

"What's he doing here?" Tara asks.

"He's in New York for some school thing. I ran into him in the city and now he won't go away." I explain. Lexi smirks at me.

"How do you girls know this kid?" Grandpa Joe asks. Lexi, Tara, and Casey shoot me nervous looks. I know Grandpa Joe can keep a secret, and is the only adult on the planet who approves of our countless schemes. I know we have nothing to worry about.

"He caught us breaking into Blackthorne." I reply. He chuckles.

"Breaking into Blackthorne huh? You girls are just like your mothers."

"Our moms broke into Blacthorne?" Lexi asks curiously.

"Zach too. Of course, the five of them never got caught."

"I thought he went to school there." I say. He nods.

"He did. He helped them break in just to prove he could." Grandpa Joe explains, laughing a little bit. After twenty-ish minutes, we're driving through the woods and reach a cabin. We all climb out of his car. Grandpa pulls off the white wig he was wearing, revealing his black hair now heavily peppered with gray. My friends remove their wigs as well; mine's already gone.

"You! Boy! Come over here," He calls. Michael gulps and walks over. "Show me your hand." Michael does what he is told and sticks out his hand. In one quick motion, Grandpa Joe cuffs him to a post.

"Oh come on Gramps! Really?" He whines.

"The girls and I have some talking to do. Without you." We walk into the cabin and sit down. "Run away have you?" Shit. How did he know?

"Why do you assume that?" I ask.

"Yea. Maybe we're on vacation." Lexi adds.

"Abby called me." He replies.

"Oh." Casey says, sighing.

"She's really worried about you four. Your parents will be too when they get back tomorrow." We frown, feeling guilty. "So why'd you do it girls?"

"We got accepted to the Gallagher Academy, full ride, but our parents wouldn't let us go. Then Mikkie overheard her parents talking about it being too dangerouts. We just wanted to know the truth." Tara explains.

"So you ran away to find your own answers," he sums it up. We smile weakly.

"Are you gonna call Abby?" I ask.

"Like I said, your great-aunt is worried sick," Great. I have a feeling I know how this ends. "but I've never approved of your parents decision to keep you out of the business. I won't turn you in this time." I grin wildly and throw my arms around him.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you! You're the best Grandpa!" He's a little red, like he wasn't expecting that, but he hugs me back.

"Just remember two things girls. I can't tell you any of what I know, and when the time comes, I'm going to help them find you. So watch out, I'm not as old and foolish as I look."

"We figured as much," I say, shrugging.

"Good. Now how about that kid? Does he know?"

"Not exactly. He thinks we're Gallagher girls." I admit.

"Good. I suggest you keep it that way if you want to get any information out of him. But Mikkie, let me warn you, Zach will most likely kill you if you try to honeypot that kid. While he's doing that, I'd be killing the boy. And you three for letting her honeypot him. Got it?" Grandpa Joe warns.

"What does honeypot mean?" I ask.

"It means you'd pretty yourself up and act all flirty so Michael would fall in love with you and tell you anything you want him to" Casey explains. I gag.

"Ugh, that's fucking disgusting! No way I"m ever gonna "honeypot" that shit!" I shriek in disgust.

"Good. And for your sakes it better stay that way." He says. Lexi, Tara, and Casey giggle at my reaction. "GIrls, why don't you bring that pain in the ass in here. He and I need to have a little chat." He hands us a key. We go unlock Michael's handcuffs and bring him into the cabin. "Mikkie, Tara, Casey, Lexi, I have some horses out back. You can take 'em for a ride if you want." My friends and I aren't really big horse fans, but it's obvious he wants us out of the room, so we pretend to be excited and leave.

"We're not _really _going to ride horses are we?" Tara asks.

"Of course not. We're going to do what we do best." I say. "Spy."

**Ooooh, think Michael and Mr. Solomon will be talking about the last Brewer's game. Nah, you're right, probably White Sox. Haha. If you DO want to know what they're talking about, and how it will affect the girls, all it costs to know is a few reviews. SO, review! Now ! Do it!  
>Lexi: Hey, I have a question. I know you said Mikkie doesn't like like Michael, but does he like like her?<br>Michael: No! No I do not!  
>Hammsters: I believe that is for me to decide. THere is a possibility Lexi, but if so, he's too hard headed to admit it to anyone. YOu'll just have to see what he does! If you readers want to know if he likes her, you will review, for the next chapter holds more clues to this mystery. And anyone who guesses the mystery genre#2 will be told what it is! Unless they're an anonymous reviewer. Sorry guys, but it's got to be kept a secret. And if you do guess it and I tell you, you can tell nobody, or I shall change the genre and the story will become really terrible, because mystery genre#2 is actually the main genre of the story! Guess away people!<strong>


	12. Stalker

**Aaaaaaaaaaah! Horror of horrors! Somebody guessed the genre right but guess what! They weren't logged on when they guessed so I can't tell them so! And when I tried looking up their username, there was over 300 people with the same one! Golly gee! So, whoever this is, you probably know who you are, if not, you'll discover you were right along with everybody else in the chapter where I unveil said genre. Sorry, that's the breaks! Wish that wasn't how it went though. ANyways, I gots the next chapter here for ya! Yay! It's not as long as usual, but it's still important, so don't get upset with me please. I'll try to update as soon as possible, but it might take a while cuz this is the last of the chapters I have pre-written! So, enjoy the show!  
>Michael: And Hammsters owns nothing.<br>Hammsters: But she wishes she did. :-(**

My friends hide in rooms adjacent to the one Michael and Grandpa Joe are talking in. I take to the vents, my personal preference, crawling around until I'm practically inside the room. I can now hear every last word the two of them say.

"Why were you with my granddaughter?" Grandpa Joe asks immediately.

"Because I ran into her in New York City and started hanging out with her." Michael says simply.

"But why did you do that? You'd only me her once before, what made you want to spend more time with her?" Michael is silent. "I see. Then why did you steal her walkee talkie?"

"Because I wanted to listen to what the girls were saying." he replies. _Creepy bastard. Great. I've got myself a stalker._

"Why did you want to know what they were saying?" Grandpa Joe asks.

"Just because I wanted too okay!" Michael snaps. It's silent for a little while.

"Do you know what Blackthorne was created for?" Grandpa Joe asks grimly.

"Yes sir."

"Does it serve the same purpose today?" His question is answered with silence. "I said, does it serve the same purpose today" He repeats impatiently.

"Yes sir." Shame fills Michael's voice as he responds. What does Blacthorne do?

"Then I want you to stay away from Mikkie and her friends." Grandpa tells him solemnly.

"I'm sorry sir, but I'm afraid I can't do that," Michael refuses respectfully. What the fuck is he doing? Grandpa sighs.

"Find a way Roberts."

"How did you-"

"How do you think?" Grandpa Joe replies.

"Yes. Of course sir."

"Go find the girls for me will you? Those horses are pretty fast and I'm not as young as I used to be."

"Yes sir." Michael says. Shit.

"Abort, abort!" I whisper urgently into my walkee talkie. I crawl as fast as I can and jump out of the vent, hitting the ground running. My friends and I sprint full speed ahead to the stable where the horses are and start petting them, doing our best to disguise our panting. Michael walks over a few seconds later, sauntering and smirking as if he'd just won the lottery instead of getting reprimanded by and old man. I gotta say, the kid's a good actor.

"Gramps wants you ladies back," He says. We start back to the cabin. Michael walks next to me, but maintains a respectful distance. _Thank you Grandpa Joe, _I think. though I'm curious as to why Michael's so afraid of him.

"You know, if I were you,"

"You'd be a lot prettier?" I guess.

"I'd try to hide that somewhere," he says, pointing to where the edge of my walkee talkie peeks out of my jeans pocket, smiling a little at my joke.

"Why? Are you gonna try to take it again? Gonna try and listen in on our conversations?" He smirks.

"Maybe."

"Stalker," I mutter. He stops smirking.

"I'm not a stalker!"

"Oh yes you are," Lexi says as she strides past us. Michaels starts making faces behind her. "Are you gonna stop doing that, or do I have to wipe that stupid expression off your face myself?" She threatens. That makes him stop.

"A stalker _and _a chicken. Not a good combination Michael." I say. He blushes for a millisecond, then sticks his tongue out at me. I just glare. I'm still mad at him.

Grandpa Joe puts in a frozen pizza for Lexi, Tara, Casey and me and leaves to drive Michael back to New York City. Once he's gone, we stuff our faces, eating as fast as humanly possible.

"Guys, do you realize what a huge oppurtunity this is?" I ask excitedly as my friends scarf down the last few bites of their food.

"Uh, not really." Tara shrugs.

"Care to enlighten us folks of lesser wisdom Mikkie?" Lexi asks.

"Think about it. It took an hour to get here, and in addition to having to make a round trip, it's rush hour right now, so it'll take at least three hours for Grandpa Joe to get back. We're alone in the house of a man who went to the Blackthorne Institute and teaches at the Gallagher Academy, the two schools we're currently investigating." I explain.

"Oh, I see how it is." Lexi says slyly.

"Girls, we've got some investigating to do.

**How'd I do, how'd I do? Got any guesses as to what Michael meant when he said he couldn't leave the girls alone? Cuz I sure as hell don't. He wont' tell me! Isn't that so rude? Anyways, comments, criticism, anything? If so, I'd love to hear it, the more I get the sooner I update. Peace out my peeps! :-)**


	13. The Secret Life of Grandpa Joe

**Hey every one! I'm happy to say that it didn't take nearly as long as I thought it would to hammer out a new chapter. Not the longest one ever, but not every chapter can be a minor novel. NOt that any of the chapters in this have been. I have a few things to say before we get to the story though. First off, Michael isn't part of the Circle of Cavan. In my story, Cammie and Zach took them down a loooooooooooong time ago. The reason Mikkie hasn't met her dad's parents is because they're in a nice cozy CIA prison right now. Secondly, I NEVER said that Michael and Mikkie like each other. They don't, just so you knows. I confess, Michael will, at some point, like SOMEONE. But there's no guarantee it'll be Mikkie. Michael has an ego he can hardly fit through the door, so he thinks he stands a chance with the prettiest girls he can find, even supermodels probably. Mikkie is the Cammie of the bunch, not the prettiest of the four, so there's a chance it's gonna be Tara or Lexi. But you never know, maybe I'm lying to you. Maybe I'm trying to through you off the trail. Mwahahahaha. Thirdly, I accidentally wrote 'Grandpa Hoe' by accident last chapter. Me is so sorry! Forgive me Mr. Solomon! Well, enough of my endless rant, which I expected to be much shorter than that, Let's get on with the story!**

We immediately commence invading my grandfather's privacy. Casey examines every last file on his laptop, Tara inspects every text, every call, every email, picture, video and alarm on his Blackberry, which he was foolish enough to leave behind. Meanwhile, Lexi analyzes every word and doodle in his notebooks and journals while I rifle and rummage through desks, dressers, boxes, backpacks, suitcases, and closets. Absolutely nothing is sacred.

We continue our investigation, picking up tidbits along the way, piecing them together like a jigsaw puzzle. But while he slowly becomes clearer, it's as if one big piece, the last one we need, is missing. We can find nothing to string all the facts together. Until we do.

While going through the drawers of his bedside table, I find that one drawer, the bottom one, is stuck. There's no keyhole, no padlock, nothing stopping it from moving, but even so it simply won't budge.

"Hello there," I murmur. Going on instinct, I flip the table onto its side and take a good look at the base. Sure enough, there is a number dial lock protruding from the bottom. "Well, what do we have here?" There's a total number of six dials, ranging from numbers zero to ten. _Hmm. If I were Joseph Solomon, what would I use for the combination lock of my super secret bedside table? _I quickly spin the numbers to the address of the Gallagher Academy. Nothing. The Roseville, Virginia, zip code. Nada. Matt's birthday. Zilch. I try one last number, praying that this time I'll get it. I spin the dials to the date of Grandpa Joe and Grandma Rachel's wedding. The drawer clicks and slides open. _Aw. That's so sweet, _I think.

I begin searching through the contents of the drawer. I find negatives, file folders, Composition notebooks title "case reports", and pile upon pile of fake I.D.'s. I've hit the jackpot. I begin skimming through the I.D.'s: Caleb Morris age 17, Robert McMillan, Jacob Dixon age 35, etc. But there's one that really catches my eye. A real one. Shock bubbles up inside me as I stare at it in disbelief.

"Guys?" I say, walking into Grandpa Joe's office where my friends are "working." "You might wanna see this." I hand them the I.D. Disbelief registers on their faces. The I.D. reads as follows.

**Name: Joseph Solomon**

**Place of Employment: Central Intelligence Agency**

**Occupation: Teacher, operative, W-WA.**

"What in the name of the holy queen mother fuck" Lexi says breathlessly.

"Central Intelligence Agency? That's- that's-that's-" She's turned the palest shade of white I've ever seen.

"Breathe Case, breathe!" I exclaim.

"The CIA" Casey whispers in awe.

"What in sam hell is a "W-WA"?" Tara asks.

"Women's basketball?" Lexi offers.

"That's the WNBA you dolt!" I correct.

"Well excuse me!"She shoots back defensively. "Beats me then." She says, admitting defeat. We all sigh.

"Well that's great! All we found out is that my stupid grandpa is a stupid spy!" I yell in frustration.

"Which is friggin' awesome, but not what we were looking for." Lexi sighs.

"In that case, until we know what a 'W-WA' is, I suggest we skiddaddle on outta here," Tara suggests.

"Sam hell? Skiddaddle?"I ask.

"I though it was my parents who were from Texas, not yours." Casey says. Tara shrugs.

"I've been reading Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn again," She admits.

"Ooh, the fashionista's a secret book worm." I tease. She sticks her tongue out at me. "You're right though. I don't think Grandpa Joe would hurt us or turn us in, but just to be safe, let's get outt a here." We grab our stuff and flee from the cabin. We travel a few miles for about an hour before stopping and setting up camp in a nice, but slightly damp cave.

"Get a good night's sleep girlies," Lexi says, "becasus I'm not giving up until we find out what the hell a 'W-WA' is."

**Any guesses on what a W-WA is? If you guess it right you'll get... uh... the pride of a job well done! Sorry, dat's all I got. Once again, I apologize, not the longest chapter. Sorry! I also apologize for my rant, that probly wasnt necessary. I just wanna keep the ending as secrety as possible. But, the issues with this chapter, reviews please! The more I get, the sooner I update! Oh yea, and I'm not updating until I've gotten at least three reviews for this chapter. Another thing, answer my poll, it's important!**


	14. Hacker

**Thanks for the reviews everybody! I'm horrible at keeping people in suspense, so one of the bigger questions bestowed upon you by the lovely little characters of this story will be answered. Only one though. Another thing. I've been trying to incoorporate the characters' descriptions, but it doesn't really fit in anywhere in the story. SO here they are.  
>Mikkie: Somewhere between 5'1" and 5'4," Originally I wanted her to be 5 foot even, but then she would be dwarfed by Michael (even though he's only 5'10" which in my mind is short for a guy cuz most guys I know are well over 6 foot.) and that would be weird. She has her dad's black hair and green eyes, a heart shaped face, light colored skin and a dusting of very light freckles over the bridge of her nose. Like Cammie, she has a habit of underestimating her looks (but is a teensy bit arrogant about everything else. After all, she is Zach's daughter) and is a lot prettier than she gives herself credit for.<br>Lexi: She's about 5'4" or 5'5." She has black hair and her mother's dark skin and chocolate colored eyes. She looks just as exotic as Bex and took after her father in the sense that she looks like your average every day Greek goddess.  
>Tara: The tallest of the girls at about 5'6." She has blue eyes and light brown hair and looks like a model just like Macey. She wears the most up to date stylish clothes, is a trendsetter kind of, and is the queen of the disguises. Her skin is kind of tan and of course, no zits to report.<br>Casey: Like her mother she's an Aryan (she has blonde hair and blue eyes) and is very short and skinny, about 5 foot even and under a hundred pounds. She has a lot of cutesy little freckles and is very little girl adorable.  
>Michael: I've already described him, but here's the jist of it. Muscular, handsome, charming, black hair, sky blue eyes, light colored skin, kind of an athletic build, but more runner or baseball player than football or hockey, you know?<br>Anyways, that's all of em so here's the chapter! Hope you likes it! OH, and before I forget, this one has a teensy bit of OGSY (Only the Good Spy Young) spoilers. Anyways, enjoy!**

I wake up to Casey shaking my shoulders rapidly and yelling "wake up!" at to my fellow runaways. From the tone of her voice, she's anything but happy. I groan and sit up, rubbing my eyes.

"What's up Case?" I ask groggily. Her face is white as a sheet, her eyes are wide and she's hugging her laptop to her chest. This can't be good. After all, _she's_ normally the calm one (with a few exceptions every now and then, like when her computer freezes.)

"I did something bad." She admits in a guilty whisper. I breathe a sigh of relief. She can't even do the most basic pranks right, it can't be _that _bad.

"Good on ya Casey," Lexi congratulates her. She sounds proud and thrilled that Casey did something even remotely bad, even though she hasn't told us what she did yet.

"No! No, no, not good on me! This isn't like putting extra spices and ..ahem… _other things _in Matt's food before he goes on a date so he gets gassy, and the _other things _take affect, or spying on our parents, or pouring fake vomit over the balcony in a movie theatre to gross people out!" I smile dreamily to myself. Those are some classic pranks, my personal favorites. "This is _bad _bad! I- I- I-" she stutters, starting to hyperventilate a little bit.

"Spit it out Anderson!" Tara cries in frustration and annoyance.

"I hacked into the CIA database!" She blurts. We all gasp at her shocking, yet awe-inspiring confession.

"But Casey it's… _the CIA," _I whisper in awe. She nods guiltily. "Why?"

"Well, I woke up pretty early and none of you guys were awake yet so I decided to do some digging about everything, but I couldn't find anything about W-WA. Well, nothing that made sense at least, unless your grandpa is a closet wrestler. I got to thinking that maybe the CIA would have some answers, since he works there. And this little voice in my head kept saying "just do it. You could get away with it easy." Oh, but I'm gonna get caught, I know it, I just know it! I only left alternate locations and routes in three countries and if their hackers are good, which I know for a fact that they are, they'll trace it back to me no problem!"

"Wait, wait, wait, hold on just a sec. How do you know their hackers are good?" My question is answered with silence. Casey hugs her knees to her chest. "Casey? How do you know their hackers are good?"

"Because their hackers are my parents!" She exclaims. We gasp again.

"Your parents? But- Liz and Jonas, they're- they're- they're just not-" Tara stammers at a loss of what to say.

"They're just not cool! Definitely not cool enough to be working for the CIA!" I finish. Tara and Casey nod.

""Well, they _are _only hackers. It's not like they're spies or assassins or anything wicked awesome yet bone chillingly fear inducing" Lexi reasons. We nod.

"True dat." Tara and I murmur in agreement.

"Speaking of fear inducing spies, turns out we know more than one." Casey informs us sheepishly.

:Casey? What do you mean we know more than one?" I ask nervously.

"The Gallagher Academy and the Blackthorne Institute are training schools for spies, not a snooty prep school and a juvenile detention center. Our parents, our parents' friends, our grandparents, Abby, they're all spies!"

"What?" Tara cries in shock.

"Michael too." Casey adds. I suddenly feel kind of nauseas. Why is this stupid cave spinning?"This is just awesome. We're gonna get caught for sure! Joe's definitely gonna tell them! The moment she hacked the CIA, it became his job to." Lexi sighs, glaring at nothing in particular.

"Another thing about Joe. I know what a W-WA is now." Casey replies, attempting to sound casual and failing miserably.

"And that would be…?" I ask.

"A wet work artist." She says dismally.

"Well pardon your French!" I exclaim.

"You're such a hypocrite! It's not a cuss. Mikkie, a wet work artist… it's an assassin." I spring to my feet and pace back and forth.

"No. No! You're wrong, it's not possible! My Grandpa Joe is not an assassin!" I exclaim hysterically. Lexi stands and puts her hand on my shoulder, trying to calm me down and comfort me.

"Mikkie, it's true. Casey wouldn't lie to you, especially about something like this." My best friend tells me, her voice solemn. I sigh and sit back down, letting the truth wash over me.

"Hate to be the bearer of bad news, but that's not the worst of it." Casey interjects.

"What else is there?" Tara asks in a whining tone.

"I was able to find the top four CIA assassins. Number four was Joe" she says.

"Who were the others?" I ask.

"I'm not sure you guys wanna know. She warns.

"We wanna know." Lexi confirms immediately. Casey sighs.

"Number three: Nicholas Slaine. Number two: Grant Newman." She recites. Tara and Lexi gape at the sound of their fathers' names. I feel the warmth drain from my body. Every inch of my body goes numb. I have a hunch who number one is.

"Who is number one?" I ask, dreading the answer I already know.

"Mikkie-" She starts. I cut her off.

"Who's number one?" I repeat impatiently.

"Number one: Zachary Goode." She recites sadly. My expression goes sour. Instead of feeling sad or scared, I'm angry and worried. How could they keep so much of who they are from us? Why would they want to? Do they think we don't have the brains and the brawn to be spies like them? (Try telling that to the girl who just hacked into the CIA database and little miss "I like to flip people over my head and beat them shitless if they dare to think they're tougher than me just because I can" over there, A.K.A. Lexi.) One thing is for certain, I never, ever want to go home to those lying jerks. Ever. One look at my friends' faces tells me that they feel the same way. "If it helps Mikkie, you got your skills and stuff from your mom. She's their best pavement artist." Wow. Finally a term I know. Being a pavement artist has been my secret ambition since I was seven years old. Who would have guessed that my own parents would stand in the way of my dream.

"Anything else to tell us?" Lexi asks stiffly after a moment of angered and awkward silence.

"No." Casey says quickly. Her eyes have widened again and her face has regained its paleness. Her voice is slightly higher than usual and she avoided eye contact with all three of us as she said it. Even an idiot could tell that she's lying. But we decide to let it slide. For now at least. She'll tell us when she's ready.

**Hey everyone! What'd you think? Was it good? Were you able to enjoy it more having a better idea of what the characters look lkie? Or am I a complete weirdo and did it have no effect on your reading experience? Probably the latter. Oh well. Please, I beg of you, right now, go cast your vote in my poll! Michael needs you! And review too. THat never fails to make me happy. If I get 15 reviews before I update the next chapter (not all from the same person) I will tell you what the mystery genre is! If anyone cares! So yea. Tell your friends, tell your foes, tell your old Uncle Al! I needs those reviews! Anyways, peace out myu partylicious peoples!**


	15. Missing Persons

**Hi everyone! I'm extremely happy to say that I got more reviews for last chapter than I've ever gotten for one chapter alone! Yay youuuuu! BUt, since the number of reviews was eight, and not the goal of fifteen, the mystery genre remains a mystery genre for yet another chapter. But I'm pretty sure you'll all be able to figure it out after this chapter. Just a warning, this chpater contains even more OGSY spoilers, so sorry to anyone who hasn't read the fourth book yet and reads this chapter! And I need people to answer my poll! Michael's very annoyed with you at the moment!  
>Michael: Damn right I am! I'm a thirteen year old boy! I really want a girlfriend! But nobody will reply to the poll (but the two who have are totally awesone) SO there is no hope for me! Where are all the people talking about the second genre being romance when you need em?<br>Hammsters: I hate to admit it, but Roberts has a point.  
>Michael: Yea! I've got a point!<br>Hammsters: Although I personally don't care much either way and I'd feel extremely bad for the girl who would get stuck with him if you guys do choose for him to get a girly-friend. So take my poll pretty please! Anyways on with the chapter!  
>Lexi: Aren't you forgetting something?<br>Hammsters: No. Michael is. It's the original reason I created him, so I don't have to say it.  
>Michael: Can't Mikkie do it? Just this once?<br>Hammsters, Mikkie, Tara, Lexi, Casey, and every other character that has been in this story (especially Mikkie): NO!  
>Michael: Fine. Hammsters owns nothing. Except Mikkie, Tara, Lexi, and Casey.<br>Mikkie: And YOU!  
>Michael: OH yea, sure, you're okay with saying that part.<br>Hammsters: Now, on with the show!**

We spend the next few weeks living in that same cave, hacking the CIA database in search of more answers. It's risky, we know, but there's not much else we can do. We used to go to town a lot, but now we can only go for food. And we never go unless we're in disguise. Why is that? Missing persons posters. That's right, friggin' missing persons posters. Turns out, when our parents discovered our disappearance, they pulled out all the stops: search parties, amber alerts, the whole shebang. We were even featured on the seven o'clock news. You can't go ten feet in most towns without seeing our gorgeous faces on some news stand or telephone pole. It's fucking unbelievable!

In our time here, there has been some prgress. We know a lot more about our parents than before. For example, did you know that my mom was the target of an international terrorist organization? Run by my Grandma Goode? Cuz I sure as hell didn't! And my mom never had her senior year, and my dad only had the first semester of his. Why? My mom ran away to take down said international terrorist organization and my dad ran away to find her and save her from said international terrorist organization. And my Grandma Goode has to spend the rest of her life in a CIA prison. Huh. You think you know a someone.

But we're finally leaving! We finally get to ditch this kindergarten! I'll be able to see broad daylight again as myself and not some ditzy blonde I named Theresa! You know you've been using an alias too long when you start answering to it automatically and your friends start calling you that. We're going to a town a few miles from here wher, hopefully, our missing posters are nonexistent.

We take the cheapest train we can find into the next state. And yay! We were right, no posters. In this town at least. Almost every other one, yes, but in this one, nada. Zip. Zilch. I can finally eat my Burger King in peace knowing that there is no chance that Lexi has super-glued a wig to my head.

Once we get there, we head straight to town and split up. That way, we can look around and cover more area in the limited time we have. We need to obtain information, find out how much these people really know about Mikayla Goode, Alexis Newman, Cassandra Anderson, and Tara Slaine. As far as my research has gone, they don't know much of anything at all. I pull out my research notebook, record my findings, stuff the notebook in the butt pocket of my dark skinny jeans, and begin cutting through the crowd searching for my friends. It's getting late and we've yet to find somewhere to stay the night.

"Hey you! Mikkie!" I hear a familiar voice call. _No. No, no, no not him, not now! _I continue throught the crowd, pretending not to hear. I feel a hand on my shoulder. "Don't you pretend you can't hear me Mikkie." I growl and spin around and glare at him.

"What the fuck are you doing here Michael?" I ask him harshly. He glares back.

"Explain this." He thrusts a piece of paper in my face. A missing poster. One that happens to have _my _name and face on it. Shit. I laugh nervously.

"Did I happen to mention that I'm not really a Gallagher girl?" I joke, at a loss for anything else to say.

"Yea, I noticed!"

"I did get accepted to the Gallagher Academy. And my parents are spies." I reason. Michael glares more.

"You lied to me! You didn't even give me your real name!"

"If it helps, Morgan is my mom's maiden name." I offer.

"You're just a civilian!" He cries.

"Starlker." I mutter.

"Liar." He shoots back.

"Jerk." I add.

"Runaway." Oh, that is low, Not cool dude, not cool at all.

"I hate you." I say bitterly. His face softens. He steps closer, looking just a teensy bit unsure of what his next move is. Then, in a flash, his hand is on the back of my neck, his fingers laced through my hair, and his lips are pressed against mine. He kisses me softly for 25 seconds (that's right. I counted) then he pulls away.

"I don't" he says, smirking. Two halves of my mind are conflicting, my thoughts fighting to be heard more clearly than the others. One half is thinking, _Yay! My first kiss! _And the other is screaming, _What the fuck, Michael? _Michael begins stepping backwards slowly.

"What was the point of that?" I yell. Michael shrugs, still grinning, then disappears into the crowd. I stumble backwards, stunned and beyond confused. Something's very wrong with this picture. Instinctively, my hands fly to my back pockets, and sure enough, they're empty. "That ass-wipe stole my research notebook!" I holler at no one in particular. I fumble around in my jacket pockets and grab my walkie talkie. "Code Red guys, Code Red." I whisper. "Keep an eye out for Michael. He's here and he knows."

I run into the crowd in the direction Michael went, but I can't find him. After a few minutes, I come to a bridge hovering above a bike path. I peer over the edge and instantly see a familiar mess of black hair. "Michael! Get back here you son of a bitch!" I scream. He turns, sees me, and looks worried for his own sorry ass.

"Oh shit!" He yells. He takes off running in the opposite direction. I hurdle myself over the side of the bridge and hit the ground running after him. I chase after Michael for a few minutes before we come to a dead end. "Crap." he mutters.

"GIve me back my notebook." I demand. He smirks.

"Make me." I punch him squarely in the jaw, catching him off gaurd. I throw another punch, but Michael's prepared this time. He catches my fist in his hand. I grab his arm, twist it, then yank it back. He groans in pain. "That's not fair! I can't hit a girl!" I shrug.

"Sucks for you." I jump up and kick him in the stomach. He grabs my ankle and throws me off to the side, moaning and holding his gut with one hand. I land gracefully on my toes, crouching. He glares and swings out his leg, kicking me in the ankle and knocking me to the ground. I rub my back with the palm of one hand and prop myself up on the other. I give him a look that's meant to say _What the hell? _Michael shrugs.

"Never said anything about kicking." I groan and leap up onto my feet. I slug him in the gut. He grabs my forearm and twists it as my fist makes contact, sending me spinning backwards into his chest. Wthout even looking, I know he's smirking. I elbow him in the stomach and turn to face him again. I whack him upside the head. Michael grabs my arm and flips me over his head. Thinking ahead, I make no move to break the fall or land on my feet. I hit the ground hard on my back and bang my head. I moan in pain. His face softens into concern. "Are you all right?"

"Yea. I'm fine." I sit up and rub the back of my head with the palm of my hand. He bends down to take a closer look at the bump I'm sure is beginning to form and I seize the opportunity. I grab his ankle and yank him to the ground. I seing one leg over him and sit on his stomach. I rummage through his jacket pockets, then the front pockets of his jeans. Nothing. Michael smirks.

"You're not going to find it there," He says. I scowl.

"Oh, you've _got _to be kidding me," I sigh. Reluctantly, I reach into the back pockets of his jeans and pull out my notebook.

"All that stuff really hurt you know." Michael informs me.

"Good." I say cheerfully. I stand up, thumping him on the side of his head with my knuckles. He groans and rubs his head with the palm of his hand. I lean in close. "Don't mess with me dick head." I whisper in his ear. I straighten up from my crouching position and walk away, leaving Michael staring at my disappearing figure with a dumb-founded expression.

**Oooh, does Michael maybe like our badass little friend? Or was that only for the purpose of stealing the notebook? What a curious situation. Reviews please, and take my poll, but mostly reviews please! It would be so awesome if I got more than eight reviews for this chapter! You know you want to review! I review sooner when I get lots of reviews, they inspire me to write. SO review if you wanna know what happens next with our two favorite people!**


	16. Author's Note 2

**Hey guys, it's Hammsters! (obviously XD).I'm really sorry because it's been forever and a month since the last time I updated and many of you probably wanna wring my neck right about now. Forgive me! I would like to reassure you that I'm not giving up on this story, there have just been some complications. Some of you may know that I have another story under Lord of the Flies. That story is in it's final days, sad to say. I've only got one more chapter for that and I've been focusing all my energy on getting that final chapter perfect (you guys know what I mean, it has to have a good ending!) I'm sorry it's been taking so long to post. I promise that as soon as I've put up the last chapter of the Lord of the Flies story I will put all my focus into this story! And good job everybody, record number of reviews, THIRTEEN!**

**Michael: And Hammsters wants me to tell you peoples that if more people don't answer her poll, she might cry. Come on people! It's not fair! That poll is about yours truly, I demand that you answer it!**

**Mikkie: Please.**

**Michael: See? She wants you to answer too!**

**Mikkie: Actually, that was directed at you Mike. As in, please shut up. That poll really doesn't favor my friends and I well. One of us would be stuck with you!**

**Michael: You should consider yourself lucky!**

**Hammsters: Shut up Michael, or you get diddly squat. And a punch in the face from yours truly. Now, people, thanks for understanding, I'll have another chapter up soon I promise!**


	17. Grown Up

**Hi evryone! I'm so sorry it's been like a millenium since I last updated this story, but as I said in the author's not, I had to write the last chapter of my other story before I could return to this one. And now that story is finished and I am free to continue this one at the rate I was going before. Nobody was taking my poll, so I just closed it.  
>Michael: And a big thank you to 60% of the voters! And to the other 40%, you make me sick.<br>Hammsters: Michael, be nice. DO you want me to sic Lexi on you. She'll be far more thorough than Mikkie, who is a merciful girl. Lexi doesn't like you very much, so it would not be a pleasant experience for you. Anyways here's the chapter, hope you like it.**

"It's official. I hate _all _three of you." I say, glaring into the mirror at the disgusting, appalling disguise they've stuffed t=me in.

"Even _me?"_ Tara, the costume designer asks, sounding beyond insulted.

"Especially you," I mutter.

"Well then!" She gasps, prancing off beyond Casey to spend the next ten or so seconds pouting and sulking. She will then stop and be overjoyed to create Lexi's, Casey's, and her own disguises.

"Come on! It's not that bad! You look pretty," Lexi assures me.

"I look like my mother!" I snap.

"You're always saying you wish you looked more like her. Wish granted." She reasons, shrugging.

"Personally, _I _think you look more like your Grandma Goode." Casey interjects. I raise an eyebrow at her.

"You think I look like my seventy year old terrorist grandmother?" She flushes, realizing that what she said made it worse.

"No! I didn't mean it like that! I meant when she was younger!" she corrects herself (something she rarely does.)

"Okay. You think I look like my forty year old _terrorist _grandmother?" I ask pointedly.

"No! I didn't mean- I'm not trying to- what I'm trying to say-" Lexi interrupts her.

"Casey? Not helping." She says, patting her on the back.

"Do I really have to do this? You look more like an adult than I do! I still have chipmunk cheeks!" I plead.

"Come on, you look great! You could pull of twenty five! Maybe." Lexi says.

"Probably not." Casey says doubtfully. Tara and Lexi both elbow her in the stomach. She whimpers softly, pouts, and then sulks a little bit.

"You're fine! Now get out there and get us a hotel room!" Tara says, giving me one big shove out the bathroom door. I stumble into the lobby, cussing under my breath, earning a few curious stares. I smile weakly and wave, then slink over to the front desk. _Here goes nothing!_

Hold up. Let's back track a bit. Here's the situation: we need a place to stay that isn't in some random forest preserve, but hotel's aren't exactly handing out rooms to a bunch of thirteen year olds. See our problem? It was pretty clear that one of us needed to dress up like an adult, but, for obvious reasons, none of us wanted to do it. So we decided to draw straws. That's where my luck from earlier in the afternoon ran out.

When I pulled the short straw, I did everything in my power to talk my way out of it. I even played the 'I just beat Michael shitless' card. Nup. While my friends couldn't have been happier about that turd getting put in his place (especially Lexi), it wasn't worth dressing up like a cranky old lady.

So here I am, marching up to the front desk, trying as hard as I can not to fall in these friggin' stilettos. I reach the front desk, somehow managing not to face plant a single time.

"Hello miss, how may I be of assisstance?" The manager asks.

"My daughter, her friends and I need a room." I day.

"Of course. How many people do you have with you?" She asks.

"My daughter, two of her friends, amd me." I reply. She nods.

"We have one room open that will accomodate four people. Room 317. Will that be all right Ms...?"

"Larson." I lie quickly. "And yes, that will be pefect.: Lexi, Tara and Casey (Tara's disguise looking suspiciously similar to mine) choose that moment to come out of the bathroom. "There you girls are! Come on, let's go see our room." We grab our backpacks and make our way to the elevator, me tripping over my stupid heels. We ride up to the third floor and drop our bags off in the room.

"C'mon, it's BK time!" Lexi exclaims. I change as quickly as I can into a t-shirt and shorts and we run out. Man, I cannot wait for that delicious burger. Lord knows I've more than earned it.

**What is it with these girls and Burger King? It's no Pizza Hut! (Girls gasp)  
>Mikkie: Burger King is special!<br>Lexi: DOes the king of burgers mean anything to you? It means that it is better than any other restraunt because of their mouthwatering burgers!  
>Hammsters: I only eat burgers from Al's Charhouse. (Girls gasp again)<br>Casey: How dare you! I am ashamed to be speaking to you!  
>Tara: SHUN!<br>Michael: You girls are so weird. Everyone knows that McDonald's is the home of the best burger ever! (Girls gasp for a third time)  
>Mikkie, Tara, Casey, Lexi: SHUN!<br>Michael: You girls can't shun me forever. Remember, I WON that poll!  
>Hammsters: okay, restraunt preferences aside, I need reviews people. Or Michael will never get his long awaited girlfriend (I already know who it's gonna be. Mwahahahahahahahaha!)! So review. Now. Do it.<strong>

**Isn't there something you need to be doing?  
>Like clicking on three blue words?<br>ONes that say "Review this Chapter?"  
>It's right there.<br>It'll take three seconds out of your day.  
>Just click<br>on  
>the button<br>right  
>there<br>V  
>V<br>V **


	18. Intruder

**I had the most amazing inspiration for a chapter last night, I wanted to start it right then and there, even though it was three in the morning. But I share a room with my older sister and she was sleeping. I'm so nice to her. Anyways, I woke up super early (like, 10:00) just to start writing it and typing it. I even got a good start on the next chapter too! This one's one of my favorites so far, and I hope you'll agree! Just a warning, this chapter contains _Tangled _spoilers. Don't ask, just read. And this is where the magical effects of the poll begin to come to life if you look closely. So read, and review!**

We walk all the way to Burger King and back, talking and laughing the whole way. Surprisingly, no one questions the fact that we came to the hotel with three girls and now there's four. We race up the stairs to our room and swing the door open. The first thing we see when we walk in is a long thin chord hanging from the vent shaft in the ceiling clipped to a belt. A belt that a certain Blackthorne boy is currently wearing. He's hovering a few feet above the ground, his gloved hands wrapped around the chord. He turns and sees us.

"Shit." Michael mutters. "Hey girls."

"Hiya Mike." Tara says looking up at him, sounding amused. "Watcha doin'?" He shrugs.

"Oh, you know. Just hanging."

"What are you doing here Michael?" Lexi asks seriously. "Come to spy on your little girlfriend?" He smirks and I elbow her in the stomach angrily. "Or go a few more rounds against her?" That wipes the smile off his face and puts a smirk on hers.

"I kinda wanna eat my burger, so I'll pass," I interject.

"Then why don't you try going a few rounds with me?" Lexi asks in all seriousness. He smiles at the chance to redeem himself.

"Bring it Newman," Lexi pulls out her pocket knife and in one fluent motion, slices the chord holding him up. He belly flops onto the hard oak floor, but springs to his feet immediately. She throws a punch but he dodges it and tries to hit her. She leaps into the air and aims a roundhouse kick at his head. He ducks and grabs her leg. Michael swings her around by her ankle, releases her, and Lexi soars into the sofa. That's enough of them figting. We really need to stop them. As much fun as it is to watch them fight, we don't want to risk her getting hurt. Lexi has a specific fighting style. If she's not winning from the getgo, she's not that hard to beat, and her moves become repetitve and predictable. She's the toughest of the four of us, but she won the least fights in karate. Michael's an expertly trained fighter, she doesn't stand much of a chance against him. She gets up off the sofa and begins to charge at him, but we restrain her. She growls.

"Let me at him guys!" She exclaims. "I can take him!"

"No Lexi!" I yell back. "I know a better way to punish him. Lexi grins mischeviously. We get into a huddle.

"What's the plan Mikkie?" Casey asks.

"Have you guys ever heard of Notebooking someone?" I ask.

"Most painful form of torture for male spies. Forbidden in three countries. Invented by stupid girls who thought their boyfriends would love _The Notebook. _Why?" Casey answers automatically.

"I was thinking we could do something like that." I say.

"But we hate that movie." Tara says.

"So we'll use a different one." Lexi pulls three movies from her backpack.

"How about _Titanic?_" she asks.

"No, he might like that." I reply.

"_Twilight_?" Lexi offers. I shake my head.

"He'll make fun of the sparkly vampires."

"That leaves us with one option." She tells me, holding up the moveie.

"Great! I love that movie." I answer. We skip over to Michael and shove him onto one of the couches in front of the TV. "We thought about Notebooking you." I start. He shudders. "but we hate that movie." He sighs in relief. "So we're doing the next best thing. You're being Tangled-ed."

"That's not a word." He points out.

"Too bad. It is now," I tell him. He groans.

"That's such a girly movie!" He whines.

"You wanna go?" Lexi snaps. He grins and leaps to his feet.

"It is on like Donkey Kong!" _Really Michael? Really?_ Lexi throws one perfectly aimed punch and hits him in the eye. Michael stumbles back and plops down onto the couch. He holds his hand over his eye and moans in pain, but then pretends like it doesn't hurt. "I gotta say, I expected better from the daughter of Bex Baxter and Grant Newman."

"How the hell do you know who my parents are?"

"Stalker," I say in a sing-song voice. He scowls, then smirks.

"Spy," He says, pointing to himself.

"Whatever Mr. Bond, it's movie time!" Tara says, putting the movie into the DVD player. I sit down on the couch and Lexi, Casey, and Tara sit on the other one. Michael smirks and scoots closer to me. Too close for my comfort. I scowl and scoot away. He scoots closer again.

"Could you stop that?" I snap

"What?" He asks oh-so-innocently.

"Scooting closer to me."

"Why does it bug you?"

"Yes," I say.

"Then no." he answers simply. I sigh in defeat.

"Jerk." I mutter under my breath. Apparently not quiet enough for him to miss it. He grabs me in the crook of his arm, pulls me into his chest and gives me a noogie. I squeal and push him away. "You messed up my hair you asshole!'' He just laughs.

"Ah, young love." Tara sighs teasingly.

"We are _not _in love!" Michael and I both snap at the same time. She smirks.

"Sure you're not." I chuck a pillow as hard as I can at her head and hit my target dead-on. I grin triumphantly. She glares and turns her attention to the TV screen. Michael scoots closer to me one more time. I groan and fold my arms across my chest. The movie begins.

-92 Minutes Of Awesome Later-

By the time the movie ends, everyone except me and Michael is asleep. As usual, I cried when Flynn almost died. As expected, Michael laughed at me when I cried. He also ended up sitting _very _close to me. And there's no room for me to scoot any further away. At some point he put his arm around me, at which point I offered to give him another black eye (Lexi's punch left quite the shiner.)

"So what did you think?" I ask expectantly. He shrugs.

"It wasn't terrible," he admits. I grin.

"Wanna watch it again?" He looks like he wants to say no, but my very cutest puppy dog face changes his mind.

"I guess," He sighs. I smile contentedly and restart the movie. We're both asleep before it's halfway done.

**Eh, eh, so how'd I do? Was it good? And who do you think the romance was between? Was it:  
>A.) Mikkie and Michael<br>B.) Lexi and Michael  
>C.) Tara and Michael<br>D.) Casey and Michael  
>BTW, if you think it's Casey and Michael, you might wanna reread the chapter, cuz she didn't even talk to him. SO anyways, like I said I have begun the next chapter and it'll probably be up soon, but it'll be up even sooner if you review! It's a lovely chapter too. Gives you (or at least, it gives me) more reason to love Lexi. So review<br>now.  
><strong>** it'll take ten seconds out of your day at the most.  
>Just click the button.<br>Do it.  
>You know you wanna.<strong>


	19. Cooties

**Sorry, this chapter is kinda short, but it's cute too. Like I said in the last chapter, this will give you more reason to love Lexi. At least, it gives me more reason to love her. She's easily one of my favorite characters in this story. Tara will show off the McHenry in her and blah blah blah blah blah, I feel like one of those voice overs reality tv shows put in their commercials. Anyways, let's just get to the chapter. Thanks to everyone who reviewed last chapter, your reviews made me so extremely happy, I literally squealed. Anywho, let's get to the story, enjoy!**

"Aw! That's so cute!"

"Sh! You'll wake them up!" Someone whispers. My eyes flutter open and I become extremely aware of the fact that my head is resting on Michael's chest and his arms are around me. I leap to my feet and run around flapping my arms franically.

"I've been contaminated!" I shriek. My friends laugh.

"Contaminated by what?" Casey asks.

"By- by- by- COOTIES!" I yell the first thing that pops into my head. They laugh again.

"You were contaminated by Michael's cooties?" Tara laughs in amusement. I nod earnestly.

"He has them you know."

"So we've been told," Tara replies.

"If you guys don't mind, I've got some business to take care of," Lexi tells us, holding up a Sharpie marker and gesturing to Michael, who's still somehow asleep on the couch. She uncaps the marker and starts writing on his face. We watch as she scribbles 'Lexi's fist was here' on his forehead and draws an arrow pointing to his shiner. We giggle. Wait till he sees that. Michael wakes up about five minutes later.

"Morning ladies. Have a good sleep?" He asks groggily.

"It sure looks like _some of us_ did," Lexi replies, waggling her eyebrows suggestively.

"Lexi!" I gasp. Michael looks confused.

"What's she talking about?" He asks me. Lexi describes our morning (omitting the part where she wrote on his head), explaining my reaction to being in his arms in great detail. By the end, he's laughing his ass off.

"It's not funny!" I yell defensively. "I've been contaminated!"

"Yes, by my cooties," he laughs. I can't think of anything to do, so I wave my hand slowly downward in front of my face.

"Shun!"

"What the fuck?" Lexi asks.

"Shun!" I repeat. My friends laugh and shake their heads at me. I shrug and walk over to the couch.

"I hear they've got a pool here. You girls wanna go?" Tara asks.

"Sure," Casey replies.

"I'm in," Lexi says.

"Me too." Michael answers.

"She said girls, you're not invited." Lexi jokes. He sticks his tongue out at her.

"How about you Mikkie?" Tara asks. I repeat the hand movement.

"Shun!"

"I'll take that as a yes," she replies. The girls go into the bedrooms to change into their bathing suits and Michael disappears into the bathroom. I sigh and go to my room to change.

I take one look at the swim suits in my bag and can practically hear the screech of a train whistle, feel the steam pouring out of my ears like in a cartoon. **I'M GONNA FUCKING KILL TARA SLAINE!** Apparently, she felt the need to edit my choice of bathing suits before we left to go on this little trip, replacing my two favorite tankinis with two swim suits that scream McHenry. Freaking bikinis. Small bikinis, might I add. One is blue with white polka dots. There is a gold hoop in the front and middle on the top and the same thing on the sides of the bottom. The other is a pink one with a strap that wraps around my neck and bows on the sides on the bottom. I change into the blue one, cuz I admit, it is kinda cute, and pull on my green strapless cover up. I huff angrily. Wait till Michael gets a load of this. He'll be cranking out bad jokes nonstop, he'll have a field day! I smirk at the thought of Michael going to the pool, his black-eye and the message above on display for the whole world to see.

I walk out of the room about the same time Lexi, Casey, and that traitor Tara walk out of theirs. I glare daggers at Tara. She smiles.

"Hey Mikkie. Like the bathing suits I lent you?" She asks evilly.

"You are walking dead Slaine." I tell her, still fuming. Michael chooses that moment to walk out. He's wearing green and white swim trunks, an old white t-shirt, and has a towel draped over his shoulders.

"Are we going or what?" He asks impatiently. Lexi, Tara, Casey, and I slip on our flip-flops and the five of us head to the pool. Sadly, my fantasy about people laughing at Michael becomes capoot. It instantly becomes apparent that it won't be his forehead that everyone will be gawking at.\

**Haha. What do you think everyone will be gawking at. Spoiler alert, Mr. Abercrombie and Fitch takes off his shirt! Duh, duh DUH! How very thrilling. With all his spy training, he's gotta have abs. Serious abs. So yea, not just handsome, hot too. But anyways, wanna sneak peek of the next chapter? It ain't real exciting, but I'll give it to you anyway:**

_**Michael tugs off his shirt and leaps into the water. Not. Fair. I was so excited about people laughing at his forehead message, and he just ruined it. What kind of a thirteen year old boy already has a six pack! The question on everyone's mind, including mine. Scratch that, especially mine. I can't help but stare a little bit. Why is it that the most annoying guy I know also has to be the hottest? Why, why, WHY? He kinda just ruined my day. Jerk. **_

**I was gonna type more of it, but that would give away too much. So you must suffer, wondering what the hell will happen. Aren't I evil? NOt really. I'm no good at cliff hangers. Anyways, review and you'll get the rest of the chapter. Peace out peoples!**


	20. Sorry Michael

**Hey everybody! Thanks so much for all the reviews, they rocked my socks! This chapter isn't all that important to the plot, it was mostly for fun, but there's a little bit of plot movement later on in it. A lot of interaction between two of our favorite characters. I'd just like to warn you all that I won't be able to update as often as I'd like for the next few weeks. I'm doing a running camp from 7:30 a.m to 8:30, memorizing my lines for a play (I get to play the bully named Jezebel! Yay for bullies with cool names!), from 3:00 to 6:00 I have tennis and from 6:00 to 9:00 I have play practice. Also, I have to run with my older brother, starting with just three miles a day, building up to ten miles a day. Aren't I lucky? And next week I'm going on vacation. So yea, the chapters won't be posted as quickly as your used to, but I'll devote as much time as I can to working on it. Bear with me! Anyways, that little note aside, let's get to the chapter shall we?**

Michael tugs off his shirt and leaps into the water. Not. Fair. I was so excited about people laughing at his forehead message, and he just ruined it. What kind of thirteen year old boy already has a six pack? The question on everyone's mind, including mine. Scratch that, especially mine. I can't help but stare a little bit. Why is it that the most annoying guy I know also has to be the hottest? Why, why, WHY? He kinda just ruined my day. Jerk. My friends and I pull off our cover-ups and Michael lets out a low whistle.

"Nice bikinis ladies!" He hollers. I stick my tongue out at him and cannonball into the water while Lexi, Tara, and Casey lie down on the pool chairs. Tanning, what pansies. Micheal smirks as I swim over to him. "Looking good, Goode" he says, eyeing my itsy bitsy teeny weeny blue polka dot bikini. I grimace.

"Haha, very funny."

"I'm serious. But I never would've imagined you as the skimpy bikini kind of gal," he tells me.

"I'm not. Tara slept over the night before we ran away, and while I was sleeping, she decided I should be." I explain. He chuckles.

"She's Macey McHenry's daughter right?" I nod. "Then it doesn't surprise me." I laugh.

"I'm guessing Aunt Macey has a reputation for being controlling and fashion conscious?" He smirks.

"Big time."

"No shit," I say sarcastically. He chuckles. "I'll race you to the diving board."

"Oh, you are so on!" We take off swimming towards the opposite end of the pool. I get the lead pretty early on (thank you swim team) but I"m not ahead by much. He's right at my feet. He tries to pass me but I accidentily kick him in the face. I'm unable to supress a laugh and have to go up for a huge gulp of air. I reach the end and pull myself out of the water. I sprint full speed ahead, Michael hot on my heels. _Damn that kid's fast! _We're soon neck and neck, the steps to the high dive mere feet away. I use every bit of energy I have left to push past him and cut him off right in front pf the steps.

"Ha! I win!" I exclaim. He pouts.

"No fair, you cheated!" He whines.

"Did not!" I defend.

"You fucking kicked me in the face! This thing's my moneymaker!" I put my hand on his shoulder.

"Dude, if that's your moneymaker, you ain't making much money." I say, tapping his forehead at the end. He smacks my hand away good-naturedly.

"Just admit it. You think I'm hot," Michael gloats, gesturing to his chest. While it may be true, I'm not gonna let this little prick know that!

"You're an egotistical son of a bitch aren't ya?" He smirks.

"But it kinda turns you on don't it?" I laugh.

"Yes Michael, that's exactly what it does." I say sarcastically. He smiles triumphantly. I turn and climb twenty or thirty feet in the air to the top of the diving board. I look at the water below me and gulp. That's a _long _way down.

"Mikkie!" Michael calls. "Don't bellt-flop!"

'Michael," I say warningly.

"Or fall!"

"Michael shut the hell up!" I snap, turning to glare down at him.

"And Mikkie! Whatever you do, don't _die!_" He adds. With that, I flip him the middle finger. I step up to the edge, take a deep breath, and jump. I do two flips in the air then dive in, slicing perfectly through the water. My head breaks back out through the surface and I stick my tongue out at Michael. He laughs and takes his turn. We switch off trying to show each other up for about a half an hour before tiring out and leaving with Lexi, Tara, and Casey.

We get back to the hotel room and sit around talking for a while. We soon get bored and my friends and I force Michael to sit through a _Twilight _movie marathon. He may never forgive us. After all three movies are over, Lexi, Tara, Casey, and I change into our pajamas and Michaels goes into the bathroom to brush his teeth. As soon as he's in, Lexi holds up her fingers. 3, 2, 1...

"What the fuck?" Michael exclaims. We begin to giggle. He comes in and chews us out for a few minutes before returning to the bathroom to try to wash off Lexi's message. As expected, it doesn't come off, thanks to Casey's "special" homemade ink. It'll be a while before _that _goes away. While he tries to do the impossible, Tara, Casey, Lexi, and I go to Casey's room to talk.

"Guys, we can't stay her. We have to leave, like, now." Casey tells us.

"Why the rush?" I ask.

"The hackers at the CIA are beginning to hack me back. They'll be able to get a trace on our location if we don't get out of here soon." she answers.

"Okay, we'll pack up later and hit the road," Lexi replies.

"One more thing," Casey adds.

"What?" Tara asks.

"I don't think we should bring Michael. I don't know if it's his background, his training, where he went to school, the sudden interest he's showing in us or what, but something's not right about him. He scares me a little bit," she admits sheepishly.

"Then we won't bring him," Lexi states simply.

"Michael will never let us leave him behind," I reason.

"He doesn't have a say in it. We have ways of controlling that situation." Casey says deviously, reaching into her bag and pulling out a syringe filled with sedatives.

"So you're just gonna walk up and jab him with that thing?" I exclaim in surprise. Casey laughs.

"No, I'm not a barbarian. I'm going to inject the sedatives into some kind of food and give it to him to eat. He'll be passed out within 30 seconds without feeling any pain for the next hour, and we'll be free to leave." Casey explains.

"All though that jabbing thing has a nice ring to it," Lexi says mischeviously. We go to our rooms and pack our stuff as quickly as possible. When we're done, Casey injects the sedatives into an apple, which Michael then scarfs down hungrily, and in seconds he's out like a light. Guilt makes my heart race, my blood pound, and my stomach churn. All the guy did was try to help us and we return the favor by sedating him? But it had to be done. For Casey. And the safety of the research he kept attempting to steal, but mostly for Casey.

I'm the last one out, since I have to change into my lame Mrs. Larson get up. As I'm walking out the door, I turn back and look sadly and guiltily at Michael, who's passed out on the couch.

"Sorry Michael. Maybe we can hang out again some other time."

**Awwww, poor poor Michael. All though, I don't get what Mikkie means when she says he tried to help them. Cuz he didn't. He tried to take their information on countless occasions. Since I don't know how to fit this into the story, I'm just gonna tell you. Casey's afraid of Michael because while she was doing her hacking thang, she found out the truth about Blackthorne. So everything about Michael puts her at unease. She'll get over it though, don't worry your pretty little heads about that. Reviews are always appreciated. My goal is to get ten for this chapter (then I'll have a grand total of 100 reviews!) So please, review it once, review it twice, review it as much as you would like, I don't care how may times you do as long as you review. If you don't review, I'll sic Michael and MIkkie on you, and as you've seen, they're not people you want on your bad side. So do it. Review. Now. Right this second. If you're still reading this, Michael and Mikkie are on their way to your house to beat you up. Do it. For your own safety, click the damn review button! Pwetty pwease? Heheheh, peace out peeps!**


	21. In Plain Sight

**Hey, sorry about the wait. I know it's been forever since I last updated and I feel super bad about that. I've been on vacation for the past week and my parents and my brother and sister wouldn't let me borrow their laptops. Not that I was expecting them too, it's kinda silly to ask to borrow them for that. Anyways, thank you so so so so much to everyone who read and reviewed the last chapter, we were so close to hitting my goal! Seeing all those reviews from you guys when I got back seriously made my day! You guys are all the best! Any who, without further adieu, here's the chapter! Enjoy!**

There's nowhere left to go. Nowhere, to run, no one to con, nothing left for the four of us to investigate. Yet we can't go home. Being found is no longer an option for us fugitives. That door closed the day we hacked the CIA. The day we searched Grandpa Joe's house. We committed a felony, treason, and most likely lost our only ally. If we're found, we won't be given a stern talking to and returned to our nice cozy beds, we'll be sent away to rot in CIA prison with Grandma Goode despite our age.

So we run. We run to the place where we're wanted the least. The home, the life that we were denied. A place devoted to stopping the bad guys, protecting civilians and keeping them from knowing the truth, from doing what Tara, Lexi, Casey and I did. The place run by my own grandmother. The Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women. After all, the best place to hide is in plane sight. Is it risky? Yep. Is it stupid? Incredibly so. Does that make it all the more appealing to us? HELL TO THE YEA!

For the Gallagher Academy, school starts today. The students show up today. It gets infiltrated by four almost students today. But the thing is, we really have no plan. I mean, obviously we're not gonna waltz right in there, but besides that one fact that we know, nothing. I remember my mom telling me about how the Gallagher Academy has always been crawling with secret passage ways. If you know the right ones, you could get to any part of the mansion in a few seconds flat. There were a lot of pretty impressive passage ways she told me about, but one in particular sticks out in my memory. I remember her telling me about a passage she used to sneak out and night and visit her boyfriend. If she can sneak out through that, there should be no reason we can't sneak in the same way. Our best bet is to find that passage, and if we can't... well, we'll think of something.

"Are you guys sure about this?" Casey asks as we walk out of Roseville towards the Gallagher Academy.

"Is Matt a dork?" I ask in response. Casey shrugs.

"Not really," Lexi replies.

"Yea, I for one think he's kinda hot," Taralls me. Lexi nods in agreement. I gag.

"You two have officially ruined the word hot for me," I tell them in disgust. They sigh dreamily thinking about my older brother. Ew. Remind me again why I'm friends with these people. We start to walk towards the long brick wall encircling the school. I approach it and start walking along it, running my hand across the surface and knocking occasionally as I go. We walk around the perimeter fpr about twenty minutes.

"This is hopeless!" Lexi groans.

"Well, I don't suppose you have a better idea," I say. She grins mischeviously.

"In fact, I do have a pretty good one," She says. She tells us her plan and waits for our feedback. I'm the first to speak up.

"That's a terrible plan."

"But it seems to be the only one we've got, so let's go!" Tara replies. We walk towards the long line of limousenes leading to the Gallagher Academy. "Are you guys ready?" I sigh.

"As ready as I'll ever be." My friends shrug and we prepare ourselves to begin this awful plan. A limo pulls up and girls pile out of it. We step up to it, open the door, and crawl through it as if we're students. Nobody questions it. Without speaking to anyone, we rush into the school and search for the school office. We turn the corner and the office is right down the hall when I ram into someone. I stumble back and look up at the person. Oh god. Grandma Rachel. I may be wearing a blonde wig and blue colored contacts, but she's my grandma for Pete's sake! She'll know it's me I just know it!

"Oh, careful ladies," She says, smiling at us. She walks past as if it's the most normal thing in the world. She didn't recognize me. I don't know whether to be happy or disappointed.

"Let's go," Casey urges us. We rush forwards and creep through the door. "We probably only have a few minutes until she gets back so we'll have to do this quickly. If I were a chart of students and their room assignments, where would I hide?"

"Filing cabinet?" I offer. She nods and searches through the cabinet.

"Found it," She tells us. Her eyes scan the multiple pages and stop at about the third page. "Hello there," We look at her curiously.

"What is it?" Tara asks. Casey smirks.

"Oh, nothing" She replies suspiciously.

"Whatever, are there any empty rooms?" I ask.

"There's about a dozen, but I think you'll like room 385. Especially you Mikkie," She hints. I roll my eyes.

"Whatever, let's just go." I say. We walk out of the room and start walking to the room. We get there and set down our backpacks. "Okay, Lexi, what happens next in your wonderful plan that will totally get us caught and sent to prison?" She rolls her eyes at me.

"We put on the uniforms we, ahem, _borrowed,_ and go to the welcome dinner. We blend in and make sure they believe that we're students. That way we can take some of the classes and learn a little more about our moms. Easy peasy lemon squeezy," She explains. I raise my eyebrows, but she just shrugs. "It's worth a shot isn't it. We're already here. might as well try it." We all shrug and change into our, ahem, _borrowed _uniforms. For school uniforms, they're pretty cute. A lot better than our old ones. We check our disguises, fix eyeliner-freckles and readjust wigs and then head downstairs to the Grand Hall thing-a-ma-jigger for dinner. We sit down awkwardly at the table of chattering 7th grade girls. One red-headed girl turns to us and starts talking to us.

"Hi! I'm Becky Cater," Cater, Cater, where have I heard that name before? Lexi mouths 'Tina Walter's daughter' Oh yea! I remember meeting my mom's friend Tina Walters from school!

"Hi, I'm Theresa Paisley," I reply. "These are my friends Cassidy and Elizabeth Marx," I say gesturing to Lexi and Tara who are disguised as identical twins, "And Jennifer Monroe." She grins and we all grin back.

"Nice to meet you. Did your moms go here?" She asks. We shake our heads instinctively.

"No. Jennifer's parents are normal, and our dads all went to a boy's school, but our moms are all normal." I explain.

"Cool. It's kinda weird coming here and meeting the kids of all the people my mom told me about. I'm kinda surprised. There were four girls she talked a lot about that went here who are pretty high up in the CIA, I was expecting their daughters to go here, but they don't"

"Really? What were their names?" Tara asks.

"Um, I'm not really sure. Something like Madison, Kara, Alex, and Lacey maybe," SHe says.

"You mean Mikayla, Tara, Lexi and Casey?" Casey guesses.

"THat was it! How'd you know?"

"Our dads know theirs." Lexi explains immediately. She nods understandingly. Suddenly, the room goes queit. I see Grandma Rachel standing at a podium at the front of the room.

"Welcome back ladies. I hope you've all had nice summers," A wave of murmurs spreads throughout the room, but then it goes silent again. "We've got a lot in store for all of you. A few changes have been made to the curriculum from last year, but only one major one. We're trying something we did about twenty years ago. It was successful then and we're hoping it will be this year too." The doors to the hall swing open. Forks drop, mouths gape, whispers and giggles are heard all around. "Ladies, let's give a warm welcome to the gentlemen of the Blackthorne Institute!" There is a new species of silence in the room. Everyone stares at the hot young men striding through the center of the room. But one in particular catches my attention. A familiar, smirking, black-haired boy with cool blue eyes. A boy with a fading black eye and a steadily disappearing message on his forehead that reads 'Lexi's fist was here.' Ooooooh, shit fuck.

**So, what'd you think. Those girls just can't shake that kid off their tails, can they? But will he recognize them? Anyways, I hope you all liked it, it wasn't my best chapter since I was kinda in a rush to put this chapter up. When you get the chance, I would love for people to reply to the poll I put up. I really want peoples opinions about it, so please do it will make my century! So, please reply to it and pretty pretty pretty please review this chapter! Peace out peeps!**


	22. Visiting a Blackthorne Boy

**Hey, so I left off on a teensy bit of a cliff hanger last time so I was in a huge rush to write this chapter. The next one will be out pretty soon too probably. If anyone gets the chanced I really need people to respond to my poll. It's a matter of life and death. So, I don't have much else to say, so, here is the wonderful new chappie! Hope you like it!**

The entire student body continues to stare as the fifteen or so Blackthorne Boys march down the aisle. Michael does sort of a double take as he walks past us, looking back as if he recognized someone then realized it wasn't the person he thought it was. Good. It better stay that way, he would somehow ruin it for us if he found out who we are.

After dinner, everyone mobs to get out. We hardly stumble through the doors. Once we claw our way out, Tara, Lexi, Casey and I stride through the hall quickly, not wasting a step. It's all going just fine and dandy until we slam into a group of four boys by accident. I almost fall to the floor, but the boy I ran into catches me just in time.

"Oops, sorry about that." He says. _Damn it! _It's Michael, the very boy I was trying my best to avoid. "We'll be more careful next time, wouldn't want any of the Gallagher girls getting injured before we can even take them on in P&E do we?" He smiles and winks at us, then he and the other boys walk away.

"What was _that _about?" Lexi asks. We all shrug and continue walking upstairs to our _borrowed _dorm room. It's not until we get our room and we have ditched our disguises that I find the note in my pocket.

"Guys, check this out," I show my friends the note.

_Mikkie,  
>I know it's you guys. You know, I'm a lot smarter than you seem to give me credit for. My dorm is room 384, come tomorrow at 10 a.m. You four have got a lot of explaining to do.<br>-Michael_

So wait. He was able to recognize me, but my grandmother, my own freaking _grandmother _couldn't? Wonder if I should feel happy or disappointed. I glare at Casey.

"Room 384 huh? Is that why you thought I'd want this room? You know, room _385?_" She nods and smiles.

"You're welcome."

"You suck," I tell her. She just shrugs.

"So are we really going to meet him or not?" Lexi asks.

"Might as well," Tara answers, shrugging.

"We ditched him unconscious in a fucking hotel for Pete's sake! We definitely owe him an explanation, at least." I say.

"I guess." Lexi replies. We change into PJs and go straight to sleep. We've got a big day up ahead.

* * *

><p>"Get up get up get up!" Lexi shouts in my ear. I groan and glance at my alarm clock.<p>

"Ugh, it's 9:30. Couldn't you wait like 15 minutes?" I ask groggily.

"Nope. We're going to see a cute boy, who in my _professional _opinion, seems to have a thang for you. We've gotta get you all prettied up!" Tara squeals. _He does _not _have a 'thang' for me! _My friends bombard me with everything in their make-up artillery, then apply it to themselves. We put on our wigs and colored contacts. Then we put on our favorite graphic tees and short shorts and scarf down some granola bars. Success of the day: I convince Tara that I don't need to borrow her wedges.

Once we've finally finished preparing, we walk to our neighbor's room and knock on the door. It swings open and we instantly see Michael grinning at us.

"Hey Mike," I reply as the four of us walk in. The very first things I notice are three incredibly hot boys sitting on their beds talking. THey look up at us. ONe has dirty blonde hair and chocolatey brown eyes, another has black hair and emerald eyes that match mine to a tee, and the last one has brown hair and, I kid you not, _purple eyes. _They grin at us.

"Mike, you invited girls over?" The black-haired one says.

"Dude, you got us cute ones!" Purple eyes says. The blonde one stands up and walks over to us.

"Hey, I'm Austin. And who would you be?" He asks Lexi, flipping his messy hair. Ooh, not smart dude.

"Not interested in guys who do the Justin Bieber hair flip," She replies.

"Ew I hate that guy!" I exclaim.

"I know right?" She responds.

"Feisty, I like it." Austin says, winking at her. Lexi blushes a little bit in spite of herself.

"Guys, get out of here," Michael commands them. THey groan and begin to leave. Purple-eyes winks a Casey.

"I'm DJ, and I'm looking forward to seeing more of you." He says to her, walking out. The last boy doesn't move.

"Marcus, you too," Michael says. The boy stands and begins to leave.

"Hey sweet cheeks," He says to Tara. "Call me. Ooh, or you," He adds, winking at me. Michael glares and says something quitely to him. "Oh, got it. Later sweet cheeks," he says to Tara, walking out the door.

"Soory about that. My roommates are kind of...well... they're dorks." Michael apologizes.

"It's fine. What did you want to talk about?" Tara asks.

"First of all, why did you guys just ditch me like that?" He asks, sounding kind of hurt.

"I'm really sorry. It's just that, you needed to go back to school Michael. Learning this stuff is vital for you if your gonna be a spy, and we don't want you missing class for us." I explain.

"Whatever. I'll do what I want. Anyways, why are you guys here?" He asks.

"We can't go home. We know too much. If we're found, they'd send us to prison!" Casey exclaims. "This is just the safest place we could think of."

"Haha. Nice guys."

"You'd go to jail for helping us." Lexi points out.

"So you hide from spies in a school full of spies in training?" He asks.

"Well, when you put it like that it sounds kinda stupid," I reply.

"Ya think?" I glare at Michael. "Just saying."

"Is that all? Can we go?" Tara asks impatiently.

"No, I've got something for you guys." He opens up the one of the top drawers of his dresser and pulls out a bunch of wire-ish earpieces. "These are comms-units. You put them in your ears and you can communicate without anyone knowing. They're like a spy's version of a walkie talkie."

"You mean, you're gonna help us?" Tara asks. He nods. I throw my arms around his neck and hug him.

"Michael you're the best! Thank you soooo much!" I squeal. I release him. He's blushing slightly.

"It's- it's nothing." He stammers. Michael explains to us how to use the comms-units and we leave. The only thing I can think is that it looks like things could actually work out pretty well for us.

**Huh? SO what'd you think. I want at least five reviews for this chapter if possible. I have big plans for the next chapter, including the Mikkie/Michael moment of the century! I know you _all _want to read that. Let me tell you now, it's pretty adorkable. If you want to read about the adorkableness of Michael and Mikkie, review this chapter. And respond to my poll. Other than that there's nothing to say so, peace!**


	23. You and Me

**Good news everybody! I got 13 reviews for the last chapter (yay for all my awesome reviewers!) which is tied for the highest amount of reviews I 've ever gotten for one chapter. Woohoo, roll out the party wagon! That last sentence really didn't make much sense, but I"m too psyched to care. As a reward for your awesome response, I updated this chapter as soon as I could. The moment you've all been waiting for has arrived! Our good buddy Michael is about to make his move! I mean, his real move, not one including picking girls' pockets. Yay for Michael! As you can tell, I'm really excited about this. I've been looking forward to this moment since this whole story began. And that's a long time for me to think about anything. I normally can't concentrate on something for more than ten seconds. I've rewrote this chapter over and over inside my head and I've put all my writing juices into making it as adorkable as possible! Yay! So sit down, fasten your seat belts and prepare youselves for the Mikkie/Michael moment of the century!**

Well, everything was going fine and dandy, until the teachers at the Gallagher Academy decided that right now was just the most perfect time to have a dance. How does that fit in? This is a SPY SCHOOL! I seriously wonder if I'll ever get these people. Tara, Lexi, Casey and I have been going to classes like students so that no one would suspect anything, and the teachers tried to convince us that this whole dance thing is some kind of test. I hate tests. Luckily, this will not be one that I'll be taking. You see, my guess is that there will be files or a list of names or something so that the teachers can grade us during the dance. Well, we really can't have them finding out that they have four extra students can we? So this is one dance, or as the teachers are calling it, one ball that we will not be attending (although Lexi and Tara have been asked by several boys to go with them.)

Michael's bringing a comms-unit so we can contact him in case of an emergency. Really doubt that. We're trying to do this mostly on our own. No need for five of us to go to prison for treason. He insists on helping as much as he can though, so we try to keep him a teensy bit involved in case we _really _need his help.

The dance is tonight, and I admit, I'm a tiny bit disappointed. One, because I would pay big bucks to see Michael in what he calls a "monkey suit" and two, because at our school, only seventh grade and up can go to dances, so we've never been to one. Maybe some other time. Doesn't matter that much anyway. We've decided that we should keep an eye on the dance. With both Grandpa Joe here and Grandma Rachel, we can't be too careful. Our parents could show up at any time and our best bet is to keep an eye out for any signs of them coming.

From our room, we have a perfect view out the window to the Great Hall. And it is at a desk in front of that window where I currently find myself sitting, keeping an eye out, absolutely positively bored out of my mind, while my friends are out getting food. Why all three of them had to go, I have no idea, but that's how it worked out.

I'm just about to go completely, unbelievably, without a doubt insane with boredom when I hear the door to the empty room we're squatting in swing open. I turn around, expecting to see Tara, Lexi, and Casey, but instead I see Michael standing in the door way. He's wearing a tuxedo and his normally messy black hair has been neatly combed, so he's obviously coming from the dance.

"Hey," I say.

"Hi." He replies.

"How did you know where to find me?" I ask. We never told him that we are staying in the room next to his.

"I did what any good stalker would do and hit trackers in all your stuff, your food, and your hair." He jokes. I laugh. "Nah, I saw your friends sneaking out to get Burger King and asked where you were."

"Aren't you supposed to be at the dance right now?" I ask. He just shrugs.

"Dances really aren't my thing."

"Well your date must be missing you," I comment.

"I didn't ask anyone," He admits. I curse myself for the fluttery feeling in my stomach. He pulls out the chair next to me and sits down.

"I kinda wish-" I start to say something, then think better of it. "Never mind," I say, feeling silly for what I was about to tell him.

"What?" He asks. I sigh.

"I kinda wish I could be there. I've never been to a dance, but I've always wanted to." I admit. He looks at me curiously, then stands up. He holds his hand out to me.

"Can I have this dance?" He asks.

"But there's no music," I laugh. With that, Michael starts belting out "You and Me" by Lifehouse.

**"What day is it?And in what month?This clock never seemed so alive." **I take his outstretched hand and we begin to dance.**"I can't keep up, I can't back downI've been losing so much time." **He spins me out, then back in. I hate to admit it, but my stalker's a pretty good dancer. And an even better singer.

**"Cuz there's you and me,And all of the peopleWith nothing to do, nothing to loseAnd it's you and meAnd all of the peopleAnd I don't know whyI can't take my eyes off of you." **He smiles sweetly as he sings. He doesn't spin me anymore though. Thank god, I was beginning to get dizzy.

**"But all the thingsThat I wanna sayJust aren't coming out right.I'm tripping on wordsYou got my head spinningI don't know where to go from here.**

**"Cuz there's you and me,And all of the peopleWith nothing to do, nothing to proveAnd it's you and meAnd all of the peopleAnd I don't know whyI can't take my eyes off of you." **His voice grows louder, stronger, as he continues to sing.

**"There's something about you nowI can't quite figure outEverything she does is beautifulEverything she does is right.**

**"Cuz there's you and meAnd all of the peopleWith nothing to do, nothing to proveAnd it's you and meAnd all of the peopleAnd I don't know whyI can't take my eyes off ofYou and meAnd all of the peopleWith nothing to doNothing to proveAnd it's you and meAnd all of the peopleAnd I don't know whyI can't take my eyes off of you.**

**"What day is it?And in what month?This clock never seemed so alive." **The song stops and so does our dancing, yet Michael doesn't release my hands. We remain frozen in the same close together position as when we were dancing. He looks down into my eyes, his electric blue ones twinkling, then leans in and kisses me softly. Not to steal anything, or pick my pockets or for any motive or plan, but because he wants to. After a few seconds, he pulls back, both of us smiling shyly at each other. We just stay in silence for a few short seconds (but a little too long for my liking) and then he kisses me again. Everything about the moment is absolutely perfect. That is, until we hear a small group of people clapping and one person (it sounds like a girl but I could be wrong) whistling.

**Yay Michael! That was so freaking sweet it made me so mega happy! Wow, that was a pretty long chapter too. I wonder who it was that rudely walked in on their totally awesome moment. Not cool whoever it was, not cool at all. I think that this was one of my best chapters yet, so I'm foping all you kind peoples of fanfiction will review it. I'm hoping to get ten for this. Anywho, reviews pretty pretty pretty please. It inspires me to write faster. This story is pulling into the station pretty soon and I think you all want to know what happens. So please review and please respond to my poll, cuz it's a question that's got me tossing and turning in my sleep. Other than that, there's nothing to say, so see ya later pals!**


	24. Bad Timing

**Hey, I'd like to start out by saying that I am so sorry! It's been what, three weeks since I last wrote for this story? Yea that sounds about right. I feel so bad about that, I hate neglecting my precious stories, and I feel like I've been incredibly mean to all my wonderful readers. If it helps, I haven't updated any of my stories during that time. I just got up and running again a day or two ago, and I set right to work on bringing you this fun, goofy chapter. It was hard though, because in the time since I last updated, I've been fighting off a terrible case of writer's block. Every author's worst enemy. I'm sad to say that I'm pretty sure, Finding Answers is in its' final days. But don't worry, I already have an idea for a sequel. Thank you so much for all ten of the wonderful reviews I got, they made my last three weeks and they are what inspired me to write. Anyways, without further adieu, chapter 22!**

Casey and Tara clap dramatically as Lexi whoops and whistles at us. Michael and I jump back from each other.

"Beautiful guys, just beautiful," Tara tells us.

"Perfect made for TV moment" Lexi teases

"You guys have the absolute _worst _timing of anyone I've ever met," Michael informs them. They shrug, still smirking at us.

"It's a gift," Lexi replies, plopping down onto one of the beds. I sit down on my bed and Michael sits next to me, draping his arm over my shoulders. Tara and Casey make their way over and sit next to Lexi, taking their own sweet time in doing it. As they go, Casey sings "His name is Mikey, he wants a hickey..." and Tara hums "Hey Micky." Sometimes, I really hate my friends.

We sit quietly for a while. It's awkward for me and Michael, but Tara, Lexi, and Casey seem to be enjoying every second of it. Tara is the first to break the silence.

"Well finally!"

"Yea, seriously, we thought you'd never make your move Michael!" Casey exclaims.

"That'll do pig, that'll do," Lexi says, quoting one of our favorite movies. Michael stares at her questioningly. "What?"

"Did you just call me a pig?' He asks. She grins.

"Why yes, yes I did!" MIchael raises his fist false threateningly.

"Why I oughtta..." We laugh.

"Sooo... What now?" Casey asks. I shrug.

"I dunno. But I'm starving! You guys brought the BK right" They look insulted that I would even ask such a preposturous question.

"Of course!" They hold up a giant Burger King bag and we all dive for it.

"I got dibs on the whopper!" I call out.

"No way! It's mine!" Lexi argues. We wrestle for the bag. I reach in and pull out the burger before she can get to it. She rips the bag in half in her anger. "Don't you dare even think about eating that whopper Mikayla Elizabeth Goode!" She commands.

"Oh yea? I'd like to see you try and stop me Alexis Cameron Newman!" She growls at the sound of her full name and glares at me. SHe stuffs her hand in her backpack and pulls something out of one of the pockets.

"Nobody moves! I've got a camera, and I think I might know how to use it!" She declares. I laugh.

"What are you going to do, flash me to death?" My friends start giggling uncontrollably and Michael barely stifles a laugh. "Wow, I just realized how incredibly disturbing that sounds." My friends (including Michael) burst out laughing.

"True, I can't 'flash' you to death," Lexi laughs, "but I can take a picture of you in that _cozy _position with Michael and send it to Matt. Or your dad," Don't be fooled by the fact that she's 12 1/2 years old and hasn't had a minute of spy training in her life. My best friend is diabolical.

"Um, Mikkie? Who's Matt?" Michael asks. He seems calm, but his voice sounds slightly higher than normal. We do the natural thing and ignore him.

"Oh, you wouldn't."

"I so would."

"Mikkie?" Michael says.

"You're bluffing," I accuse Lexi suspiciously.

"Mikkie?" Michael repeats.

"Wanna bet?" Lexi answers me. We then begin an intense poker face staredown.

"Mikkie!"

"What?" Lexi and I both snap at him.

"Who's Matt?" He says, sounding more insecure than he had the first time he asked. I sigh.

"He's my dork of an older brother," I tell him. He looks relieved.

"Your _hot _dork of an older brother," Tara interjects.

"Stop ruining that word for me!" I exclaim.

"Think about what Matt could do with this information Mikkie," Lexi says.

"Fine," I huff, tossing the mouth-watering burger to her and grabbing a box of chicken nuggets instead.

"Lexi FOR THE WIN!" She shouts, pumping her fists in the air.

"What I don't get is why you guys don't just buy more than one whopper," Michael points out. Lexi and I both shrug. _Kid's got a point._

"Because this exchange is just so much fun to watch," Casey explains.

"Yup, that's pretty much it," Tara says.

"True 'dat," Michael agrees with them. We sit quietly, munching on our wonderful, five star worthy fast food dinner. "So, I should probably head back to the dance before teachers start wondering where I am, but I'll see you guys tomorrow!" Michael says.

"Later," I say. He then gets up and walks out the door, leaving me alone to face the interrogation by my girly, squealing friends.

**So? It wasn't terrible was it? I think it was pretty good. We'll be getting to the action in the next chapter so that should be fun. Especially for me. I need more people to respond to my poll! I'm taking it down at the end of the month and I want all your honest opinions, so respond when you get the chance. I would also like to get at least ten reviews for this chapter, but if I don't, I guess I kinda deserve that. I get the strangest feeling that no one is reading my author's notes at the end of the chapters, so if you're reading this, write "For the love of cheesy tacos" in your review. THat's it so, get to reviewing please!**


	25. Being Found

**All right everyone. THank you for all the reviews, they made me really happy (as always). It seems like the majority of you do read my author's notes, which makes me incredibly happy. It was even better readin 'for the love of cheesy tacos' over and over in reviews. It made me laugh. To make up for that long stretch of time in which I did not update this story (Once again, I'm really really really sorry about that), I wrote a super long chapter for you. The longest one in this entire story in fact! Yay! It's pretty intense. A lot happens including some of our favorite characters. And we get to see the fatherly side of my personal favorite character. Oh joys. So yea, anyways, here's the chapter and I really hope you like it!**

All has been going well for us since the night of the dance. We hardly even feel the need to bring our comms units to class. But we do anyways. We spend just about all of our free time with Michael, much to the annoyance of our other neighbor Dustin Walker and his buddies (hehe, foreshadowing.)

Michael and I are walking to class together just like always. He holds my hand in his and I swing it back and forth. He chuckles. We stop outside the COW classroom.

"Well, this is my stop. Later Mikkie," He says, smiling sweetly at me. He leans down and kisses my cheek, causing me to blush bright pink. He smirks and disappears into the classroom.

From that point on, I walk down the hall on my own. COW is on practically the opposite end of the building from Culture and Assimilation, so I'm the only one who walks this way.

I look at my watch and see that I'm running late. I take off sprinting through the hall towards class. I turn a corner and what I see makes me jump back out of sight. Oh crap. Not now. I fumble for the comms unit in my pocket and attach it to my ear.

"Guys, we're seriously in some deep shit." I whisper into the comms unit as I run in the opposite direction as fast as I can. "Our parents are here." I get a response almost instantly.

"Yea, that information would've been useful about ten minutes ago," Lexi replies. I'm far enough from where I saw my dad and Grandpa Joe that I can speak out loud.

"What? What are you talking about?"

"Hey Mikkie, how's my favorite Goode?" I hear someone say in the back ground. Bex.

"Hey! I'm standing right here you know!" That voice is unmistakeably my father's. Man, he moves fast!

"I know, that's why I said it!"

"Sorry Mikkie, they got me on the way to class." Lexi apologizes.

"It's okay, I mean, we've still got Tara and Casey and me," I say. Suddenly I hear grunting, groaning, kicking, and screaming.

"Put me down daddy, put me down!" Tara shrieks.

"A little help here," Nick says, groaning.

"Well, we still have me and Casey." I adjust my statement.

"And our secret weapon!" Tara shouts.

"What's that?" I hear Michael's voice.

"You Michael!" Casey whispers into the comms she just turned on.

"Who the hell is that?" My dad asks angrily.

"No one daddy," I answer sweetly.

"I'm not no one."

"Doesn't sound like no one to me," My dad says bitterly.

"Michael," I say warningly.

"Yo Princess! Use the code names, we made them up for a reason! It's 007," He corrects me.

"Fine. Double oh idiot, shut the fuck up!"

"Oh, right, sorry." His comms unit goes silent.

"C'mon Mikkie, let's end this. Come home!" I hear my mom.

I'm silent for a few seconds then say firmly, "Did you go home when dad first asked you?" She's quiet.

"You know about that?"

"Yup. Bye mom." I remember something Michael had told me. Now that they have Lexi and Tara's comms units, they can use them to track me. I rip the comms unit off my ear, throw it to the ground, and stomp on it. I pull a walkie talkie out of my backpack. "Man I missed this thing." I pick up the comms unit's crushed

As I run I hear footsteps pounding behind me. I look back and see Liz running to catch up to me. Liz? Really? That's the best they can do? Liz is nice and a super genius and everything, but, well, let's just say there's a reason she's a hacker and not an operative.

"Mikkie! You're coming back to your parents right now!" she tells me. I shake my head.

"Sorry, but I don't think so Liz," I say. Grabbing her hand, I flip my friend's mom over my head. I pull some tape out of my backpack and duct tape her mouth shut. Due to my lack of ropes, I take the shoelaces out of the sneakers I use in P&E to tie her hands and feet together. "Liz, if you guys catch me, remember that I'm really, _really _sorry!" She tries to yell something but it's muffled.

I start running down the hall again. After a few minutes I'm out of breath. And I'm still nowhere near the Entrance Hall. I stop for a few seconds to rest. Big mistake. Out of the corner of my eye, I see a dark figure in the shadows walking toward me.

"Hello Mikkie. How's my girl?" There. THey finally send a challenge! Sending Liz was just an insult to my fighting abilities.

"All right Cameron," I reply. My mom raises an eyebrow at me.

"Oh, so I'm Cameron now, am I?" She asks.

"Yea, you are." She grabs my wrist.

"Come on, you are in big trouble little missy." She says sternly. I try to shake free from her grip.

"Let go of me!" I screech. I finally slide my hand free and make a break for it. She grabs my shoulder and pulls me back. Without thinking, I spin around and puch her in thestomach. My mom doubles over and I clap my hand to my mouth. "Mom, I am so sorry! It was just a reflex!"

"That's it." She mutters. She picks me up and throws me over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

I pound my fists on her back and scream, "PUt me down, put me down!" in my best imitation of Tara. I yank her hair. I scream bloody murder until my eardrums threaten to burst. If anything, all it does is irritate my mom. I hear footsteps approaching.

"Zach! A little help over here!" My mom calls.

"Oh good, you got her," He says, sounding relieved.

"Yea, but she won't sit still!"

"Here let me help." My dad says. He walks over to us and picks me up off my mom's shoulder. I take this as my golden opportunity and dig my sharpened finger nails deeply into his skin until he drops me. Then I kick him where the sun don't shine and flip my mom over my head. Or, try to anyway. She readjusts her weight onto her back foot and stays grounded. Instead, I punch her in the gut again and take off running away from them. When I get to the end of the hall, I stop and turn to face them.

"Just so we're clear, I really didn't want to do that!" I shout to them. THen I take off again. After ten of fifteen minutes of sprinting all out, I feel safe enough to slow to a walk again. _We're home free baby! _I think. Suddenly, my walkie talkie crackles to life.

"Mikkie? Mikkie are you there?" Casey asks.

"Yea I'm here." I answer, still panting slightly from all the running I just did.

"Good. I would've tried to talk through comms but-" I cut her off.

"It's fine. I broke my comms unit so they couldn't use Lexi's and Tara's to track me down." I explain.

"Good thinking."

"Yea, well, they don't seem to be having any trouble finding me anyway. So far, I've already had to fight off your mom and both of my parents. If I see your mom again, or if you do, I need to make sure to apologize again. It was really sucky. I'm still free though. How're you holding up?" I ask.

"I've been compromised. Bex found me. Maybe I could've fought off Nick or Macey or my parents, and that's a big maybe, but definitely not Bex." she says. "I'm really sorry Mikkie."

"It's fine. I don't think any of us could've escaped Bex on our own. But how are you talking to me if you've been compromised?"

"I'm hiding in the bathroom. They took my comms but they didn't know about the walkie talkie. They've set up base in our dorm room. They're hoping you'll show up to go to bed or change clothes or disguises, or get your stuff and leave." Casey says.

"They really think I'm that stupid?" I ask in disbelief.

"Not stupid, naive," she corrects me. "And the last time they saw you, you would have been naive enough to fall for a trick like that."

"True dat," I admit.

"I gotta go. I can't be in the bathroom too much longer without them getting suspicious. There's only two things they could suspect and neither one is good." she says. I don't have any idea what the second option is. Upon thinking a little bit about it, I realize I probably really don't want to know. "Be careful, and whatever you do, do not go anywhere near our dorm room. That's some bad mojo!" She warns.

"Got it. Bye, catch ya later." The connection between the two walkie talkies goes dead as she turns hers off. I walk around the hallways of the Gallagher Academy until I can finally see the balcony overlooking the Entrance Hall. I breathe a sigh of relief. I never thought I'd be so glad to see a random stone balcony that is seemingly pointless. I'm about to run when someone's (most likely an adult's) strong arm locks around my waist and clamps their large hand over my mouth.

"Hi ya Mikster! Guess what, it's your favorite uncle, come to take you back to your parents!" He takes his hand off my mouth. I can easily tell that it's Grant, but I decide that it couldn't hurt to mess with him a little bit.

"Jonas?" I pretend to guess teasingly. I don't have to see his face to know that he's scowling at my joke.

"Haha, very funny. Play time's over pal, you're going home young lady," He says seriously.

"No way!" I protest.

"Yes way. Come on. You are coming with me." He starts leading me down the hall towards the staircase to the floor with the dorms. I try to stop, but he just keeps pushing me forward.

"No! I won't go, I won't!" I yell, sounding like a little girl throwing a tantrum. He chuckles.

"Oh, yes you will. You don't have a choice. And there's nothing you can do about it," he tells me. Now he's just making me really angry (like, angrier than I already was.) I dig my heels into the wooded floor to try to make harder to move me. It slows his progress a little bit, but not nearly enough. He's practically dragging me down the hall now.

"Let me go Grant!" I start threatening him now, even though I know it's not going to do anything for my situation. And I don't exactly know how I can threaten him. "Let me go or so help me God I swear I'll-I'll..." I stumble with words, at a loss for creative ways that I could hurt him. Grant just chuckles some more.

"Or you'll do what?" He laughs.

"I'll... I'll bite you!" I yell the first thing that pops into my head. It sounds weird, but I can't take it back, and I can't think of anything better. To prove my point, I grab his hand and chomp down on it, sinking my teeth as deeply into it as I can. I may be wrong, but I think I might have drawn blood. WHoops. He jumps back, groaning and shaking his hand rapidly in the air.

"You bit me!" He hollers in shock. Huh. Not exactly the most conventional way to escape from a captor, but quite effective. I would highly suggest it if you're ever in a similar situation. "Bex! Bex, Mikkie bit me!" I hear footsteps growing closer to us. Oh crap. If Grant's wife shows up, I'm in even deeper shit than I already was. I sprint towards the edge of the balcony and launch myself off the side. It's not until I'm in the air that I remember how high up the balcony is. I begin to plummet 20 or 30 feet towards my inevitable doom (or at least a broken leg), arms and legs flailing wildly as I go. As the ground becomes closer I squeeze my eyes shut and cover my head with my arms, preparing for impact. The ground is a lot softer than I would have thought. Carefully, I open one eye, then the other and put my arms down. i see that I've been caught just in time by our dear sweet Michael.

"Are you okay?" He asks.

"Yea. Nice timing," I say as he gently sets me down on my feet. He shrugs.

"It's a gift," he replies, smirking and quoting Lexi. We both start running at the exact same time, but in different directions. I go to the doors while he runs toward the hallway.

"Where are you going?" I ask curiously. "The doors are right here."

"I've already tried the doors. They're both locked from the outside, and I don't think we have time to pick teh lock," he tells me.

"Great." I mutter. We run through the hall, the killer secret passageway long forgotten. After a few seconds, he decides to break the silence.

"I saw Grant Newman heading your way about ten minutes ago. I tried to warn you, but you weren't replying, it sounded like the line had gone dead. Did your comms stop working?"

"Yea, about that..." My voice trails off. I reach into my pocket and pull out the crushed pieces of the comms unit, then hand them to him.

"It's dead. You killed it." He states lifelessly.

"Sorry," I apologize.

"You killed my baby!" He cries. He looks way more upset than he should be. His reaction makes me think of Liz and Jonas.

"Mike, focus. Now is not the time for your weird, nerdy nervous breakdown." I tell him.

"Right. Got it. Good point. It can wait." He shoves what's left of the comms unit in his pocket. "Out of sight, out of mind," he mumbles to himself.

"So where are we going if the doors are locked? I really have to get out of here. My parents and my friends' parents are all looking for me. I can't run around like this forever, I have to leave or they'll find me."

"I figure we can go to that passageway we take to get to the P&E barn and exit through the barn. From there all we have to do is avoid security and hop the gate." He explains to me.

"And if that's locked too?" I ask. He shrugs.

"We're just gonna have to cross that bridge when we get to it." I nod. I guess that's all we can do.

We keep running, never slowing down. We run past classrooms, drinking fountains, the occasional student or teacher who would then give us weird looks. Nothing can stop us now. "I know that they got to Tara and Lexi, which is surprising, but what happened to Casey?" He asks me. "Her comms unit went silent a little bit after your's did."

"Casey was compromised." I explain sadly.

"Her too? By who?"

"Bex Newman. Or, as she's better known, Bex Baxter." I say simply. Michael's eyes widen to the point of threatening to pop out of his head.

"You know Bex Baxter! Dude, she's an MI6 legend!" He says in shock. I nod, giving him a weird look.

"Yea, I know her. She's Lexi's mom," I tell him. He looks like he can't decide whether to be excited, impressed, or afraid for his life. All emotions that many people associate with Bex.

"Great. She's a bad person to have chasing after you." He mutters. We run in silence for a while.

We turn a corner down the hall with the elevator to the Covert Operations classroom (or at least that's where I'm told that is. You have to be in at least sophomore year to take that class.) We get about halfway when someone else enters the hall, blocking our way. We skid to a halt. In our way are my mom, Grandpa Joe, Macey, and Bex. My aunts look from me to Michael and smirk. Both give me two thumbs up and mouth "He's cute!" Michael sees and smirks, making me blush bright pink. Then we both remember why we're here. We start backing away slowly. Suddenly, Michael gets hoisted into the air. I turn to him and see my dad glaring dangerously at him, holding him up by the collar of his shirt.

"Mikkie," he says, struggling to keep his voice calm, "_what _is this?"

"His name is Michael Roberts daddy," I say in a sickly sweet voice. Then I think of the most perfect, spectacular way to annoy my over-protective dad. I go up onto the tips of my toes and give Michael a big kiss on the cheek. Now it's his turn to turn pink (a very manly shade of pink of course.) Across the hall, Liz (who has just showed up a few seconds ago) Macey, Bex, Aunt Abby (who also just showed up), and even my mom give me a thumbs up and smile. My friends, who are all being held captive by their own mothers, start snickering at Michael's reaction. Grandpa Joe, Grant (who is now standing behind us), Nick (also standing behind us), Jonas (also also standing behind us) and my dad look angry and are glaring at Michael like teh protective men of the family that they are. My dad is red and practically shaking with rage. I can almost see the steam coming out of his ears. He puts an arm around me, partly to warn Michael to stay away and partly to tell me that I'm gonna be grounded until I'm in my forties.

"It's over Mikkie. Come on, we're going home." My mom says. THis time, I don't try to fight against them as they guide me out of the building.

**Wow, so much action. More than any part of the story. Now there are a few things I need to bring up before you start complaining in your reviews about it, which I know someone will want to.**

**1. It's not impossible for her to get away from them all the time. She incapacitates them for a short period of time and then she ran away while she had the chance. She never actually fought them.  
>2. The reason she was able to incapactiate them so easily is that despite the fact that they are highly trained spies, they are her parents and pretend aunts and uncles. THey wouldn't fight her out of the fear that they would accidentally hurt her.<br>3. I know that there probably isn't a balcony in the Gallagher Academy, but I needed one and so there was one.**

**There, I think that that pretty much takes care of everything.  
>Michael: WHat about me? I need protection! They're out to get me!<br>Hammsters: Who's out to get you?  
>Michael: <em>They<em> are! (points to very angry red in the face Zachary Goode and Joseph Solomon)  
>Joe: I thought I warned you about staying away from my granddaughter<br>Zach: Blackthorne Boy are you? I don't like it. I don't like it at all. You shall stay away from my daughter, or I shall use what they taught me at Blackthorne to my advantage. Mwahahahahahaha!  
>Michael: Aaaaah! Mikkie! HELP! ( Runs away with Joe and Zach on his tail.)<br>Mikkie: Michael's a great guy, but I will not be facing the wrath of Zachary Goode or Joseph Solomon any time soon. He will be missed. I'll be sure to attend his funeral.  
>Hammsters: Wow. You're so brave Mikkie *sarcasm* Anyways, everyone who is reading this, you would be my bestest friend for life if you review this chapter and respond to this poll. And Michael will personally show up to your house and give you a big fat hug, you know you want one.<br>Michael: (taking a break from running from Zach and Joe) It's true. Everyone wants me to hug them.  
>Hammsters: Okay, he may be egotistical, but whatever. I also won't let them kill Michael if you review. Plus, I'll give you a sneak peek of the sequel! That's right, I already have one planned out. I would prefer to get at least ten reviews for a chapter like this. So please review and respond to my poll! <strong>


	26. The Final Chapter

**For some reason, everyone seems to think that this story is over! For your information, this story is alive and well. This is the final chapter though. WHich is so so so so so very sad! We get to see more of Zach's fatherly side. We get to meet a certain person who shall remain nameless cuz I want him/her to be a surprise. It's all very fun. It's also the second longest chapter in this entire story. And in this whole 26 chapter story, this chapter was also the most effortless to write. It practically wrote itself! Not much else to say, so let's start the chapter!**

After leaving the grounds of the Gallagher Academy, we split up to be driven in different cars. Bex and my dad take me, Lexi, Tara, Casey, and Michael. All the other adults cram into Great-Aunt Abby's tiny car. My friends and I pile into my dad's massive SUV. Michael begins to sit down next to me, but my dad stops him.

"I don't think so Roberts. Front seat. Now." He orders. Michael sighs.

"Yes sir," he replies dejectedly. Bex takes his place next to me. My dad sits down in the front, slams the door shut, and starts the car, mumbling something about a "no good dirty rotten Blackthorne boy." Bex just grins, but then looks at us sternly.

"Girls, as your aunt and Lexi's mother, I have to say that I'm extremely disappointed in you. Running away was dangerous, reckless, and overall just plain stupid." She whispers harshly. Then she cracks a smile. "Cut as a spy and a Gallagher girl… THAT WAS TOTALLY WICKED! Girls, the fights you put up were beast! And Casey, hacking into the CIA? Your parents created those firewalls themselves, you totally pwned 'em! Tara those disguises you're wearing are incredible, we could hardly tell it was you! Oh, and as a mother, I've never been as proud as when I saw 'Lexi's fist was here' written on Michael's forehead!" Bex high fives her daughter. "And Mikkie," she whispers this part even quieter, _"Your boyfriend's really cute!"_ I turn bright red and my friends giggle at me.

"What are you girls laughing about back there?" My dad asks.

"Oh, nothing Zachary," Bex replies sweetly. My dad glares at her through the rearview mirror. We giggle some more. I see Michael smirking in the front seat. I thump him on the back of the head. That causes my dad to smirk. Bex thumps him on the back of the head for me. "If anyone asks, I gave you the scolding of the milennium," she whispers. We all nod and she gives us a thumbs up.

A few minutes later, both cars pull up in a crowded parking lot in front of a large building. I look to my aunt and my dad in confusion.

"What are we doing at the mall?" I ask. Neither Bex or my dad answer my question.

"Well this should be fun," Michael mutters under his breath.

"What do you mean Mike?" Lexi asks. "Do you know why we're here?" Michael nods solemnly.

"It's the entrance to the CIA headquarters."

* * *

><p>The other adults join us and my mom, Aunt Abby, Liz, Macey, and Bex take me, Lexi, Casey, and Tara to the ladies section of a department store. Grandpa Joe, Grant, Jonas, my dad, and Michael go to the men's section.<p>

We go straight to the dressing rooms. Macey, then LIz, then Bex disappear into the last fitting room one by one without ever coming back out. My mom explains that behind the mirror is and elevator to the underground headquarters. Now it's my turn. I press my hand to the cool surface and feel a wave of heat scan my palm. The mirror slides open to reveal a large glass elevator. I step inside and it carries me down a long way beneath the mall. The doors glide open, I walk out, and what I see amazes me.

A huge room filled with the steady hum of people talking and phones ringing sprawls out before me. The floor is black marble so clean you can practically see your reflection in it. The walls are painted a darkish shade. Tall white stone pillars contrast from the walls they rest against. Large sparkling chandeliers dangle from the ceiling. At the back of the room, two polished wooden staircases spiral up to the second floor with a balcony overlooking the room. Between the twin staircases, written is big steel letters, is the CIA's motto: "And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free."

"Woah," a voice behind me says. I turn and see Lexi, Tara, Casey and my mom. I nod.

"Woah is right," I agree.

"Well don't just stand there girls. We've got places to be!" Liz rushes us. We start walking toward a hallway at the end of the room.

"Shouldn't we wait for Grant, Nick, Jonas, Grandpa Joe, my dad and Michael?" I ask.

"Your dad is waiting for you girls and the rest of us will be interrogating Michael seperately," Macey explains. Suddenly, Michael appears at the end of the hall in front of us.

"Help me. Please don't make me go with them!" He pleads desperately. Grandpa Joe walks up next to him and puts his hand on Michael's shoulder.

"Come on Michael. We're gonna have a nice long chat, man to man," He says, grinning evilly. Michael grimaces. Grandpa Joe pats him on the back with as much strength as he can without hurting him _too _much and Michael stumbles forward. They walk away.

"Well we better go join the boys before they start the fun without us. Later girls," Bex says. She, Macey, and Liz follow Grandpa Joe and Michael as we turn into the opposite hallway.

My friends, my mom and I walk into a plain white room with a large stainless steel table in the center. My dad greets us as we walk in. Lexi, Tara, Casey and I sit on one side of the table and my parents seat themselves across from us.

"Well girls, it's over. You've done well, but you couldn't avoid us forever," My dad starts.

"Tell us everything," My mom demands. My friends and I share a look then fold our arms across our chests. We're not telling them anything. "Oh so you're givin us the silent treatment huh? Fine. We can sit here all night," Lexi looks a little freaked out by this last statement.

"Mikkie, I can't sit here all night, I have to go to the bathroom real bad!" She whispers urgently. I turn to my parents.

"Will you excuse us for a moment?" The four of us get into a huddle. After a short collaboration and discovering that Casey has to go to the bathroom as well, we come to a decision. We'll tell them all about it, omitting the parts about me and Michael. They don't need to know that stuff. My parents sit quietly throughout our entire story.

"Well, I gotta hand it to you girls," my dad says after we finish, "You did a hell of a job finding everything out," We beam.

"Thanks Zach," Tara says.

"I personally enjoyed the part where you beat the crap out of Michael, Mikkie," He adds, smirking.

"Daddy!" I groan. He chuckles.

"So, does this mean our parents will let us go to the Gallagher Academy next year?" Casey asks hopefully. We all look to my mom and dad expectantly. My mom smiles.

"Girls, I'm surprised you even have to ask," The four of us smile brightly.

"Of course not!" My dad finishes. The grins fade from our faces.

"What?" I shriek.

"You heard me. What you did was irresponsible and reckless. We cannot reward behavior like that nor can we have careless spies out in the field." He explains sternly.

"But dad-" He cuts me off.

"No buts. Our decision is final Mikayla."

"That's not fair," Tara whines.

"Life isn't fair." He reasons.

"Calm down girls, we're going to give you a memory modifying tea. In an hour or twp, you won't remember a thing," My mom assures us.

"We won't drink it," I say.

"Oh yes you will,' She replies.

"Well, we'll just run away again!" I say.

"Interesting idea. Well, we'll just have to test that theory won't we?" My dad responds, sounding bored. He starts to walk out.

"Uncle Zach?" Casey calls. He stops at the door and looks back.

"What is it Casey?"

"If memory serves sir, you ran away once when you were younger too. And it seems to me that the two of you have become great spies," She points out respectfully. My mom and dadd share a look and whisper back and forth.

"Does it really mean that much to you girls?" My mom asks. We all nod earnestly. My dad sighs.

"Then I guess you can start at the Gallagher Academy as eighth graders next year," Tara, Lexi, Casey and I squeal excitedly.

"Thank you daddy!"

"You're the best Zach!"

"You won't regret it!"

"Honest, you won't!"

"Yes, yes, no one likes Zach more than when he's agreeing to what they want to do. Now if you don't mind, there's a Blackthorne boy I need to scare away from my daughter."

"I think I'll go too," my mom tells us. "i got involved with a civilian once too. I think I can have some sympathy for the poor kid."

"Sympathy for the devil," my dad mutters. They begin to walk out.

"Oh, and mom?" I call. She turns around. "If you don't tell Matt, I will." She smiles.

"Actually, we were counting on that. Come on in Matt!" She yells into the hallway as she walks out. A few seconds later, my older brother saunters in. I immediately spring to my feet and charge at him.

"Matty!" I squeal, hugging him tightly. He grins and hugs me back.

"Hey little sis."

"I missed you soooo much!" I say.

"I missed you too. Where have you guys been?" he asks. We sit down and my friends start checking out their reflections in the surface of the table. I roll my eyes at tehm and relay our story to him, occasionally having to stop to answer his questions. He looks at us, slightly dumbstruck.

"Let me get this straight. You're telling me that you guys ran away, broke into two high security schools, tricked a trained spy, fought off our parents and were able to hide right under the noses of our grandparents?" We nod. "And the reason you weren't allowed to go to the Gallagher Academy and I wasn't allowed to go to Blackthorne was that they're training schools for spies?" We nod again. "That's so awesome! I can't believe you did all that stuff!" He starts asking question after question, to which my friends reply rather stupidly. "Wow. I'm really empressed Mik. Never would've thought you had it in you."

"Thanks Matt," I say. "I think."

"Are Mom and Dad really gonna let me got to Blackthorne?" He asks hopefully. I nod.

"Yea. I think so."

"That's so awesome! Man, I really need to catch up. I'll be to grades behind! I mean, I already know the languages, but the different fight strategies and techniques. Do you think I could get dad or Grandpa Joe to train me over the summer?" He continues his rant, not bothering to wait for a response.

"Matt, relax! You have all year to practice, I promise you'll be great," I assure him.

"Thanks Mikkie. Oh, by the way, I met your boyfriend," he says.

"Oh yea? And what'd you think?" I ask curiously.

"He's not so bad. I think I'd like him more if he wasn't dating my baby sister," He says, only half jokingly.

"Matt," I groan.

"What? You're way too young to be dating. Especially a spy kid. I got my eye on him." He says protectively.

"Matt, leave him alone," I say. He grins.

"I'll think about it."

* * *

><p>After catching up with Matt, and listening to my friends squeal about how they think he got taller and cuter, and blah blah blah, I find myself sitting in some kind of lobby drinking some of the best Coca-Cola I've ever tasted. I wonder if the CIA has access to the super secret Coca-Cola recipe... Note to self: have Casey hack the CIA again and hunt down that recipe! My parents and aunts and uncles and grandpa stopped interrogating Michael about a half an hour ago. I figure he's long gone, just like my best friends. Someone comes and sits next to me.<p>

"Hey squirt."

"Hi Aunt Abby. Sorry about running away when you were supposed to be watching us." I apologize, knowing how much we must've worried her.

"It's all right. I would have done the same thing when I was your age," She tells me, smiling. "Michael's a nice enough boy." She says out of the blue. "I would warn you to stay away from him, but I know you're too much like your mom to do what I ask you."

"What do you mean?" I ask curiously.

"I remember when I first found out that your mom was dating you dad. I don't really trust Blackthorne boys. Then again, what spy does?" I must've given her a weird look, cuz she adds, "You'll find out when you're older. I warned your mom that she better stay away from that boy. He looked like trouble to me, more than any of the other Blackthorne boys. But she was too stubborn to listen."

"Yea that sounds like my mom," I reply.

"Sounds like you too," She points out. I nod.

"I don't think I plan on avoiding Michael any time soon."

"Well, it's up to you squirt, I can't make that decision for you." She tells me. "You know, he hasn't left yet." My face lights up and I run out, not even bothering to say good-bye. I hear her laughing as she watches me leave.

I run to the interrogation room where they had held Michael. As I expected, he's sitting outside in the hall in a chair. My dad and Grandpa Joe are sitting there as well. I smile. I look pointedly at the drink in his hand.

"RC?" I scoff, taking a big gulp of my Coca-Cola, "That drink is so over rated." He smirks and rises to his feet.

"So is Coke." I gasp.

"Lies!"

"Coke is over-rated, Coke is over-rated," he sings. I stick my fingers in my ears.

"La la la la la!" He pulls my fingers out of my ears.

"Coke. Is. Over. Rated."

"Is not."

"Is too."

"Is not."

"Is too.

"Is too." I say, trying to trick him.

"Is not."

"Ha! You admit it!" I exclaim in triumph.

"Fine, but I think we can both agree that Dr. Pepper is the king of all soft drinks." I nod,.

"Oh yea, definitely." We both grin. "So, uh, I just came to say good-bye. Good-bye." He grins, then leans in as if he's about to kiss me. My dad clears his throat loudly. Oh yea. I forgot they were there. His grin fades a teensy bit. Instead he bows, takes my hand, and kisses it.

"Until next time my dear Mikkie."

**Sorry, I know that ending's kinda lame, but it's all I could think of. I'm so sad that this story is over! Isn't it depressing? This is the longest story I've written yet. It took up an entire three subject notebook! In all my thirteen years of life, never have I been this proud of a story,. not even the one I wrote when I was five. (for some reason, I hold that first story I wrote very highly above the others) well, maybe I'm a little prouder of my LOTF fanfic, but only cuz it was all dramatic an I made the most perfect bad guy ever. Eh, whatever. I'm still extremely proud of this story. I'd like to thank everyone who has ever read or reviewed this story. A special thanks to all 29 of the people who favorited Finding Answers and the 28 people who put it on their story alert list. You people rock my green fuzzy socks! I would like it very much if you people would keep an eye out for the sequel to Finding Answers, which will most likely be titled "That Was Then." Since I didn't get 10 reviews for the last chapter like I wanted, I can't give you a sneak peek, but I will give you a short summary of it.**

**That Was Then: This story takes place four years after Finding Answers while Mikkie and her friends are in their Junior year at the Gallagher Academy (sorry for the time skip!) The Blackthorne boys have returned and among them are our dear sweet Michael Roberts, Mikkie's protective older brother Matt Goode, and a certain person who shall remain nameless cuz I feel like being mean. All has been going well for our favorite four second generation Gallagher girls, but their good fortune cannot last. Will Mikkie be able to handle a jealous friend and an old enemy's return?**

**SOunds good right? I've got the first chapter posted if you wanna read it. Oh, and remember that poll on my profile: Big fat question: If I wrote and published a book, would anyone actually read it? I got very very good feedback for that. Under miscellaneous, I posted a story called To Be Extraordinary. If the people on fanfiction like what I've got so far, I'm going to try and get it published. SO check it out!**


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